The Harry Potter Conundrum
by JasminSky
Summary: Death always had a strange sense of humour, so when his Master was hit by the killing curse curtesy of his "best friends" he brought him back through time to the one he loved but who had been ripped from him during the war. Though is he the only one? Full summary inside. MoD!Harry, Dark!Harry, Sane!Voldemort, time travel, HP/SS/TMR(LV), bottom!Harry
1. The boy out of nowhere

A/N: Yeah, don't kill me but my muse came up with just another story. Well what can I say…my muse is a bit overactive? This time she came up with a time travel fic in which Harry ends up at the beginning of Severus sixth year and what better thing to do than to have some fun and see how the world turns out with Tom at the lead. At first, it was to be meant to be a HP/SS pairing but then I talked with Dark-Prince-of-Clowns about it and well he is the reason that it is now a HP/SS/TMR threesome…blame him!

Enough ranting, here the first chapter!

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Chapter 1: The boy out of nowhere

Severus was sitting under a tree at the Black Lake and reading a potions journal when James Potter and his merry band of idiots came walking over to him. He barely suppressed a groan, didn't he have even one minute of peace from those bullies? Knowing that this would get ugly, he safely stashed his journal away and stood to face the other teenagers.

"Potter, what do you want? Can't you leave me in peace for once?" he sneered looking at the group of four in trepidation.

"Why should I, Snivellus? You're only one of those evil snakes and probably a Death Eater in training," James stated before laughing as if he made an exceptionally good joke, Sirius who stood right next to him as well as that snivelling rat Pettigrew laughed also and only Lupin looked at him with a blank face.

Severus just wanted to reply something to that when he was hit with a spell cast by Potter, and that caught him square in the chest. Within seconds, he was floating in the air in front of the laughing quartet. Closing his eyes, he prayed that the newest torment wouldn't go on for too long when suddenly something slammed into his chest and he fell to the ground again. At first, he assumed he had been hit with just another spell courtesy of Potter when he realised that his landing had been far too soft for the hard ground. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was lying on another boy the same age as himself that he had never seen before. The boy had dark brown, nearly black shoulder-long hair bound by an emerald green ribbon at the nape of his neck and wore muggle clothes that surely had seen better days.

"When I get a hold upon that stupid bint I'll kill her slowly and extremely painfully," the boy muttered so lowly that Severus doubted that anyone else except him could have heard the boy. Though to his own confusion, Severus wasn't even put out by the death threat that fell from the other boys full and red lips.

The boy opened his eyes, when he realised that someone lay on him and revealed the most beautiful green eyes Severus has ever seen, not even Lily's eyes reached to that beauty. It was as if he had been stunned, but for the life of him, he couldn't move his gaze from those emerald green eyes, never mind doing something like standing up. The boy beneath him was utterly stunning from what he could see and especially feel where he was pressed against the other and he didn't doubt that he could stare into these green eyes for hours on end or would overly mind exploring those firm muscles he could feel under his fingers.

"Well hello," the boy greeted him with a lopsided grin that gave Severus hundreds of very inappropriate ideas not to mention that soft and silky voice; he had to forcefully suppress his thoughts to prevent his body from reacting. "Had I known that I would end up under such a handsome boy I would have let them kill me years ago."

Severus blinked in shock and confusion. "You must have hit your head," he finally brought out, wondering whether it had always been such a hot day but also what the boy had meant with _letting them kill me,_ he couldn't have meant that literally could he?

He observed the boy raising an eyebrow. "What? You _are_ handsome never let anyone tell you differently," the boy replied his smile growing further noticing the slight blush that now adorned the other boy's otherwise pale cheeks.

All Severus could do was swallowing hard, who was that boy that came out of nowhere, probably saved him from more torment by Potter and could make him feel things he never felt before especially after only knowing him for mere minutes?

"As much as I enjoy lying in this position with a good-looking boy on top of me…I would prefer it without an audience," he snickered lowly. "And fewer clothes," he teasingly whispered in Severus' ear before looking over to where Potter and his friends were standing staring at them completely baffled.

That brought Severus' attention back to the present and the fact that he was lying on top of another boy in front of Potter and his idiots, so he quickly scrambled off the other boy dusting off his robes.

"I'm sorry," he told the strange boy after swallowing again holding out his hand to help the strange boy standing up.

"Don't be," said boy replied with a wink and a sinful smile that should be declared forbidden in Severus' opinion.

"Found yourself a boyfriend, Snivellus?" Potter taunted him with a smirk, arrogance dripping from his voice. "Perhaps your Death Eater friend here can teach you on how to go on your knees and pleasure your master properly for when you finally become a Death Eater yourself."

The unknown boy turned around to the one speaking looking him up and down with disdain and what he saw surprised him very much. In front of him didn't stand the young man he had heard so many stories about, a man who enjoyed life, played a few pranks, and later would marry Lily Evans. No, who stood before him was someone entirely else, a bully who loved to torment other students and especially the one standing right next to him. It surprised him that the many stories he had heard about Potter and his friends were so far off the truth that he wondered whether there was even one bit true at all. Honestly the man in front of him reminded him far too much of his cousin so no he didn't like him one bit. He smiled at Severus before looking to the three others raising his left arm tapping his mouth with his index finger all the while showing them his bare unblemished forearm, therefore, proving that he was **not** a Death Eater.

"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and oh a rat…Peter Pettigrew," he snarled smiling knowingly when the four blanched upon his description of Pettigrew. "You should be careful whom you insult in my presence, not to mention that bullying someone is the lowest of low, or you might find yourself in the hospital wing quicker than you can say Quidditch."

"He is right, stop insulting Sev," a female voice added before Potter could get a word in edgewise and they all observed Lily Evans walking down the slope towards them before standing next to Potter.

"Lily, what do you want? I don't need help from a m…" Severus snarled towards Lily, angered that she stood with his tormentor despite defending him, but he didn't get any further when suddenly recognition flittered over the stranger's face and he slammed his hand over his mouth.

"Please excuse my friend here, we had a bit of a rough first meeting, and he seems to be a bit confused. James Potter should you not want certain…secrets to be revealed…get lost," he growled towards the offending party giving a knowing smile towards Lupin who looked at him in shock and fear before he grabbed his friends, turned around and left as if the grim was on his heels. "Lily, would you please ensure that this hot-headed idiot doesn't commit any other acts of stupidity?" the strange boy told her with a small smile.

Lily looked at him as if she wanted to ask a hundred questions, mainly who he was and where he came from, but she decided it would be better to look after Potter so she nodded and left running after Potter not knowing what to think of the strange boy, she probably would have enough time to question him later. Severus, on the other hand, looked at him as if he decided to grow a second head.

"What…?" he started but didn't get any further because he was interrupted by the strange boy.

"Muffilato," he chanted for good measurement actually without even using a wand much to the surprise and shock of Severus, how did the boy know that particular charm? "Really? Calling your friend a mudblood? Not one of your best ideas," he scolded the larger boy.

Severus stared at him in even more shock. "How do you know what I wanted to call her? And how comes it that you seemingly know everyone while no one knows you, not to mention the spell you just used? Who in Merlin's name are you?"

"I would prefer not to tell you, you might hate me when I do," he reluctantly answered but the glare Severus sent him told him that he wouldn't get away with it.

"Who are you that I would hate you for who you are?" he pushed further.

The boy rose his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, my name is Harry James…Potter, I'm from the future," Harry replied cautiously expecting disgust thrown his way. Though all he could see was how instantly the wheels were turning in Severus' head trying to assess whether he was lying or not and if not, how everything was connected.

It took what felt half an eternity for Harry when Severus suddenly started to laugh shocking the hell out of Harry with it, he had never heard Severus genuinely laugh though he had to admit that the Severus he knew hadn't had much to smile about, he had been far too bitter for that.

"You know," he said after having cooled down again. "Alone for what you did I like you," upon seeing the confused and surprised look on Harry's face he elaborated that statement. "You defended me and told off your own father, did you not?"

Harry blinked a few times before it sunk in what he had done, and he started to laugh too. "Oh Merlin, I really gave my own father a dressing down, and he called me a Death Eater," he muttered not that he overly cared about it.

His father, James Potter, had always been someone from tales he had heard for him but not like a real person, so it wasn't hard for him to distinguish him from the James Potter he just met.

"I wonder though…you don't seem to be overly put out or even surprised by the fact that I'm from the future or the son of your schoolyard nemesis for that matter," Harry wondered.

"And you would know that how?" Severus stated dryly raising an eyebrow.

"Let's just say that I know you for long enough now to know your expression when you're surprised or confused as you had been earlier," Harry smirked.

"You're what…? Sixteen? How would you have gotten to know me?" confusion again was rising in Severus, and he wanted to know.

"You really won't let me get off without knowing everything would you?" Harry sighed deeply. "Okay listen, I'll tell you anything you want to know but not now and most certainly not here, not where someone could overhear us. Which school year is it for you?"

"Beginning of the sixth year, why?" Severus answered curiosity taking over.

"Brilliant, since you said I look like I'm sixteen this will make things infinitely easier. What about my looks? Do I resemble my father overly much?" he questioned further though he somehow doubted it because otherwise, Potter wouldn't have left without questioning him through and through.

"You would see it only if you know about it. What is this all about?" the boy, Harry, was so evasive with his answers that if he wasn't a Slytherin, he wasn't good in potions and wasn't that a surprise in itself, a Slytherin Potter?

"It looks like I'm going to school again," Harry jovially answered while he started walking back to the castle, cancelling the spell while walking backward to look at Severus expectantly.

Severus, on the other hand, didn't know what to think of the boy anymore and therefore was quick to follow him. The boy, obviously a Potter, not only defended him but also openly went against his own father. That reminded him, how had the boy even ended up in the past? Not that he doubted that fact now that he knew he could see small resemblances to James Potter but also to a young woman he only knew too well, however, as he said you would see it only if you knew who his parents were. Alas, he wanted answers, the only way to get them was to stay close to the boy walking in front of him, and who was one massive conundrum to him.

"So, your mother is Lily?" he spoke up now walking next to Harry.

"Indeed," Harry answered in the same manner Severus loved to do before he snickered upon the other boy's stare.

"Don't you want to get back into your time? What about things changing with you staying here?" there were so many things he wanted to know, but this was the main thing he wanted to know for now.

Harry sighed again. "I already changed things with my arrival here alone, and I surely do not want to get back, so why not having some fun if I have to stay here?" he now snickered.

"What alterations did you make that it would amend the future overly much?"

"The scene at the lake? Potter would have tormented you for about half an hour before Lily came to your rescue, but you were so angry that you called her a mudblood. After that your friendship with her…" Harry's voice faded out towards the end.

He didn't want to tell Severus, but on the other hand he knew that the man that once had died in his arms giving him the most precious gift one could give him – memories of his mother – and now walked here right next to him, younger but well and alive, would demand answers rather sooner than later. Severus was far too curious to not ask him about anything and everything he knew.

The other boy's silence was enough to realise that he knew exactly what would have happened.

"Thank you," he finally brought out, and Harry knew how hard it had been for him to get out those words.

Severus Snape never thanked anyone, at least the old one hadn't done, and he doubted that the young one was any different. However, he had saved him from making what he in his time had referred to as his biggest mistake right before taking the mark – which Harry also intended to change though in a different way than most might think – so it was probably no wonder that he thanked him.

Harry smiled at him. "That is definitely not the last thing I'll change," he snickered.

Upon that, Severus rose an eyebrow. "Don't you fear what the result of your alterations will be?" he asked. "That things might end up being worse than they were where you came from?"

Harry stopped walking and looked at the ground a pained expression flittering over his face before it was carefully hidden behind the happy and carefree mask he had displayed until now. Severus had to wonder just what had happened…will have happened…will possibly have happened, Merlin with time travel the tenses seriously get messed up…that the boy in front of him even contemplated changing things. It also made him wonder how much of this carefree mask was real and how much was a show, would he have to make a guess, from the emotions he had briefly witnessed he would say that it was a complete show and beneath it, Harry was as damaged as only a war could achieve.

"Believe me nothing could be worse than what I had to go through," he finally said with a pained smile starting to walk again. "Nothing short of complete annihilation of wizarding kind, which is actually not far from what would have happened had I stayed in my time, Severus. Wizarding kind was dying… _magic_ was dying…."

Severus swallowed hard, how could things have gone so wrong? He had to admit that Harry had a point in wanting to change things if things were as dour as he painted them; it was as he had said…it couldn't become any worse.

"I…understand," he replied, but from the look, Harry threw him, the boy didn't believe he really did; how could he without having lived it.

They walked in silence towards the castle, each of them lost in their own thought until they reached the steps to the entrance door. Harry stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned towards Severus.

"Severus, I know you don't really know me and considering this it is a lot I ask from you, but could you do me a favour?" Harry asked with trepidation.

Severus looked him up and down contemplating whether it would be worth it though he would need to know what the favour was in the first place to come to a satisfactory conclusion. "What kind of favour?" he therefore asked.

"I would ask you to never ever trust Dumbledore and – that is the far more important part – never ever under any condition ask a favour from him no matter the reason, trust me the price you would have to pay would never be worth it," Harry explained.

That surprised Severus, why in Merlin's name would he trust Dumbledore not to mention, ask him for a favour? So yes, he was very much inclined to agree to this. However, he wouldn't be a Slytherin wouldn't he try to take advantage out of this and if the look Harry threw him was anything to go by, he knew that too.

"Okay, but under one condition," Severus smirked. "I want your friendship."

He had no idea why he settled with something so profane so…low, but right at that moment, it felt as if it was the right thing to ask for. Severus had to smirk when he saw Harry's surprised look, it seemed as if the boy had expected him to ask for a favour in return or something in that category. Harry actually walked in a circle around him looking him up and down which actually made Severus nervous.

"Something in the wrong?" he asked once Harry came standing in front of him again.

"Oh no, I just wanted to make sure you're really whom I assumed you are," Harry snickered.

"And what did you deduct?" Severus retorted.

"That you're truly Severus Snape, Slytherin par excellence and whom some suspect to have swallowed a dictionary as a child hence why I'm so surprised that you only want my friendship in return," Harry smiled while holding out his right hand. "It would be an honour to be able to call you my friend."

Severus smiled in return and firmly shook Harry's hand. "You know, you're a boy who has invaluable awareness about the future. A boy who protected me from making probably the biggest mistake in my life and who got Potter off of me so why wouldn't I want to befriend you?" he asked after making sure that no one was listening in, but since it was in the middle of lessons, he had a free period, no one was around. Though he didn't mention how gorgeous he found Harry and that he had some other ulterior motives for befriending him.

"That's more like it," Harry laughed before turning around and walking towards the entrance.

"Wait," Severus called out letting Harry turn around again. "What about your name? You can hardly go by Potter."

"True," Harry mused giving it some thought when his face lit up, and he smirked like the cat that caught the canary. "Tom Hadrian Eldrid, this is perfect."

"Tom Hadrian Eldrid?" Severus asked confused.

"Harry can be the short form of Hadrian so it wouldn't surprise anyone should you call me Harry and Tom Eldrid because it certainly will catch the attention of a certain someone," Harry explained. "And I should probably be from America having…hmm, no I'm missing the accent, and there is no way I'll be able to fake it for a longer period of time without slipping. How active is the Dark Lord at the moment?"

Severus looked a bit confused but didn't press any further about the naming because his free period was coming to an end and he wanted to accompany Harry to the headmaster. "A few small attacks here and there nothing big mostly targets from the opposing faction but also the odd attack on muggles," he replied a questioning look adorning his face hoping that Harry would elaborate his thought process.

"That should work, family killed by Death Eaters on one of their raids, home-schooled and in my panic I apparated here. Yes, that should work," Harry smiled before turning back towards the entrance door and heading in.

They together walked in silence down the corridors of the old castle, Harry always one step behind Severus as to appear following him so that the portraits wouldn't become suspicious of how he knew the way to the headmaster's office and reported it back to Dumbledore. It took them five minutes, but finally, they stood in front of the gargoyle guarding the office.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Severus asked confusedly, usually children were accompanied by a teacher when going to the headmaster, but every teacher still was in their respective lesson, so they couldn't ask them to attend them.

"Easy," Harry replied before he started to list every sweet that he knew.

After about the tenth sweet he mentioned the gargoyle jumped to the side and gave way to the stairs leading to the headmaster's office.

"Dumbledore's password is always some kind of sweet. It is a miracle that no assassin has taken advantage out of it yet though it might be explained by Dumbledore having enchantments on the gargoyle that lets him know that someone is approaching his office while the paintings in the hallway tell him who," he explained in a low voice as not to be listened in.

"I see," Severus replied curtly.

They walked up the stairs and finally stood in front of an old wooden door. Before any of them could even raise their hand to knock the heard a "come in" coming from the other side. Harry smirked at Severus before he opened the door and stepped through. Severus who followed him closely was surprised by the sudden shift in the personality of the boy. Gone was the joyful but rather serious boy he had been previously and instead he found a boy that looked around a bit frightened but also in awe of what he saw. Severus had to admit that he admired the boy for his acting skills.

"Professor Dumbledore, I came to you with an urgent matter," Severus spoke up ignoring Harry standing next to him still looking around as if he never saw anything like the office before.

"Please take a seat, what is it Severus, my boy?" the man asked with a soft voice and a grandfatherly smile. "And who is your young friend here?"

Severus looked at Harry who now also focused on the headmaster both following Dumbledore's invite sitting down. "He is the reason for why I came to you. About half an hour ago, he suddenly appeared next to the lake out of nowhere. The only thing I could get out of him was that his name is Tom Hadrian Eldrid and that he has no idea for how he appeared at the lake."

Dumbledore hummed lowly, stroking his beard musingly upon hearing the explanation. "Is that so Mr Eldrid?" he finally asked.

"I…I don't know how…," Harry said with a heavily shaking voice looking down. "All I remember was that my family and I…we were attacked…they…they killed mum and dad," he stuttered fumbling with the hem of his shirt, his voice breaking down in the end before looking at the headmaster. "I just wanted to be somewhere safe, Sir. Am I in trouble, Sir?"

"No, no, you're not in trouble at all. Actually, Severus did well bringing you to me so that we can sort this out, my boy. Did you perhaps see who attacked you?" Dumbledore asked leaning forward in his chair in attention.

"I…I don't know…didn't see their faces," Harry muttered. "Had masks and long black robes."

"Probably Death Eaters," Dumbledore murmured lowly, but they could hear him even if barely. "Where did you live, and do you have other relatives you could go to?" he asked loudly, concern audible in his voice.

Harry gave him a short glance before looking back down again. "We lived outside of London, and…mum and dad are the only family I have…had, Sir," he said sniffing a bit.

Again, Dumbledore stroked his beard seemingly deep in thought. "The best it seems will be for you staying at Hogwarts for now until we find a new home for you though I will have to inform the Aurors about this and you probably will have to give them an official statement. Have you received any magical education so far?"

Nodding reluctantly, Harry threw another glance at Dumbledore. "No problem and I was home tutored, Sir," he replied in a low voice.

Severus observed the entire conversation with very well concealed interested while showing boredom to the outside. Harry it seemed was a master in acting the way he needed to, to convince people of what he wants them to believe. Hadn't he gotten to know the boy beforehand he would have fully believed the distressed and slightly panicked boy having witnessed the murder of his family though he wondered how Harry wanted to solidify his story because he doubted that there had been an attack concurring as he said, therefore quickly unmasking the lie. He could only hope that Harry knew what he did. Nevertheless, since he knew who the boy's parents really were…he silently applauded him for having Dumbledore wrapped around his finger.

"How old are you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sixteen, Sir."

"We'll have to assess your level of education, but I think you'd do well in the sixth year. For now, we at least can get you sorted into a house and tomorrow we will see further, okay? Perhaps you want to have a look at what electives we offer here at Hogwarts until then? Maybe there is something that catches your interest, and don't worry, even if you have no previous knowledge in that field I'm sure we can arrange something," Dumbledore explained with another grandfatherly smile though Harry didn't look up to see it.

"Okay," Harry agreed with a meek voice accepting a parchment Dumbledore was holding out to him that contained the elective classes.

His smile broadening, Dumbledore stood up and walked over to a shelf to pick up the old worn hat. "I will place the hat on your head, it then sorts you into your house. Don't worry it's quite simple really," he explained.

Harry nodded nearly invisibly, and Dumbledore placed the hat on his head, it took almost no time for the object to become alive.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Found yourself in the wrong time, don't you?" the hat snickered. "But I can see where you are coming from, and I understand your desire to change things, hopefully for the better this time."

"The question is will you work with me or against me?" Harry, not bothering to play the meek and traumatised little boy because the hat already knew that it was a show mentally, rose an eyebrow.

"Neither," the hat replied with another chuckle. "I will stay out of it; just keep the entire thing away from Hogwarts and the children, and you can call us even for me not outing you to anyone."

"That should be doable," Harry sighed in relief, it seemed the hat wouldn't tip of Dumbledore about what he was about to do. That had been his greatest worry that the hat would relay everything he saw in his mind to Dumbledore.

"Very well, SLYTHERIN," the hat shouted aloud.

When he took the hat off his head, he saw the shock, surprise and distrust in Dumbledore's face and he instantly knew that he would have to be extremely careful around the man, again. Pure…joy.

"Good," within moments the man exuded his aura of kind grandfather again. "I think Severus here will gladly show you the way to the Slytherin dorms and provide you with the password. It will also be mandatory for you to visit Professor Slughorn, your head of house for further arrangements and your timetable. If that is all, it seems to be a good idea for you to get settled in."

"Uhm Professor," Harry spoke up with a bit more confidence now. "I have nothing except what I'm wearing, even my wand got lost, and I saw them destroying it before I appeared…here."

"That will be no problem, tomorrow is Saturday. Horace will gladly accompany you to Diagon Alley to buy everything you need. Do you have money?" Dumbledore asked wondering whether he would have to supply the young man with funds from Hogwarts for his school supply or not.

"I have some money at Gringotts I think, I would only have to go there," Harry answered, and he hoped that it indeed was the case because otherwise he would be screwed though he had a little reserve in the small pocket he always carried with him. Should he have no money at Gringotts, he still would have enough at least to buy anything necessary, but he didn't really want to touch it because it was meant for emergencies.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "Good, since it is lunch right now I suggest you go fetch something to eat. I'll inform Horace about the newest member of his house, you then can meet with him afterwards."

Both Harry and Severus nodded in acknowledgement before they both stood up and left with a short "Professor Dumbledore". Together they walked down the many stairs of the grand staircase to the great hall to get some lunch.

This promised to become interesting.

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A/N: Be glad…not really a cliffhanger. 'til next chapter!


	2. The tale of the Boy-who-lived

A/N: So first setting a few things straight.

No, it won't be the bad…bad Marauders and poor, poor Severus but also not the other way around…let's just say that Severus quickly will learn that there is a far better way to deal with them than hexing them into the infirmary and the Marauders will get to taste some of their own medicine.

Since most of the story will play at Hogwarts the main focus will be on Harry and Severus and Tom won't join the pairing for quite some time.

Also Harry definitely will be bottom (yay?!). Severus and Tom on the other hand…no comment *grins diabolically*.

His future self…well, that's where it gets complicated…very complicated…and messed up…you see time is a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey…stuff…just why did I just quote Doctor Who? Never mind.

One last thing…this story doesn't have a beta yet so please don't kill me should there be the odd mistake. I try to find everything but as Harry said time travel seriously messes with the tenses so I might have missed things…

Now have fun!

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Chapter 2: The tale of the Boy-who-lived

The two silently walked down to the great hall where they knew lunch would be served. On the way there, Severus flicked his wand at Harry who only raised his eyebrows upon it until he realised that Severus had repaired and cleaned his clothes at least to a certain degree so that they weren't rags anymore but they also were far from pristine. He gave him a thankful smile upon which Severus only shrugged.

Though the second they stepped through the door each and every student turned and stared at them. Harry instantly felt uncomfortable because of the attention he was receiving but, in this case, it was unavoidable. Not every day someone, the age of a sixth-year student, walked into the hall with only muggle clothes on that certainly had seen better days, not to mention that nobody knew who he was.

What surprised everyone, however, was when the boy followed Severus to the Slytherin table where they both sat down.

That was when Dumbledore who somehow had managed to arrive before them stood up and banged his gavel against his goblet silencing the students.

"I want you to welcome Mr. Tom Hadrian Eldrid to Hogwarts. He arrived today under unusual circumstances, and it was decided that he would stay at Hogwarts for the time being. I hope that everyone and especially Slytherin, which will be his house from now on, will give him a hearty welcome," the headmaster explained before he sat down again.

Instantly the entire hall broke out in murmuring wanting to know who exactly the boy was and what those unusual circumstances were under which he had arrived. Harry, on the other hand, groaned knowing that now even more attention was focused on him.

"Why was that disgusting mudblood sorted into our house?" a boy several seats down from Harry muttered outraged sniffing indignantly.

"I have to inform you that this _disgusting mudblood_ had two magical parents," Harry sneered in reply glaring at the boy in question to prevent him from commenting on his parents any further.

"Had?" was the inquiry of a female housemate now.

Harry sighed, this would be a long day. "They died…this morning," he let his head hang for the show.

"Eldrid is not a pureblood name," the boy that made the mudblood comment prior interrupted the conversation not caring that the boy obviously just lost his parents.

"And who are you?" Harry snapped back.

"I am Evan Rosier, heir to the Noble and Ancient house of Rosier," the boy puffed up like a proud peacock and Harry had to wonder whether the boy had spent too much time around Lucius Malfoy who also liked to stride around as one.

"Well, Rosier then. My parents went into hiding some time ago and consequently changed their names in the process," he elaborated. "So, it is no wonder that you don't recognise it."

Harry saw how every Slytherin bar Severus tensed upon his explanation while Severus wondered why Harry would tell this those he surely must know were the children of the followers of the Dark Lord; he must have known that they would conclude that his parents had been hiding from the Dark Lord.

"So, one of those who kisses Dumbledore's ass and fears the Dark Lord," someone Harry recognised as Rabastan Lestrange spoke up disgustedly.

That made Harry snort. "As if," he muttered.

Severus hid his smirk behind his goblet, so Harry had a reason for all of that, establishing that he was _not_ one of Dumbledore's follower.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rabastan suddenly looked at him curiously.

" _That_ is supposed to mean that I would more likely bow to the Dark Lord than go anywhere near Dumbledore's ass or the man himself as it is," Harry chuckled. "Not that I'm inclined to bow to anyone at all."

"So, you're against the Dark Lord," the female retorted.

"That is not what I said. What is your name?" Harry sighed.

"Alecto Carrow," the girl answered.

Harry's eyes widened in recognition before he spoke up. "Alecto, sorry for being so informal but with two Carrows sitting at this table it would become too confusing using your last name. However, let me get a few things straight. Dumbledore can go to hell for all I care, and I would even give him a push in the right direction if you can catch my drift.

"In the regards of the Dark Lord, I don't care overly much about what he is doing as long as he keeps magic away from the muggles and doesn't want to kill me. No, I won't bow or kneel to him, but that doesn't mean that I'm against what he is doing, it simply means that I do not bow to anyone. Should you, on the other hand, have a problem with this…stay away from me and you won't get hurt. Nonetheless, should you decide to try anything fancy…," Harry left the threat open.

He could hardly tell them that a prophecy made in about two and a half years time would declare him the Dark Lord's equal and that he indeed had earned that title power wise, but he could warn them nonetheless that it would be a very bad idea to cross him.

"But why did your family go into hiding then?" a boy a few seats down that to Harry's surprise was the young Barty asked in confusion, but he could hear that he didn't judge him for his stance towards the Dark Lord. "I mean if you're not on Dumbledore's side and have no problem with the Dark Lord…why hiding?"

"Because of Dumbledore," Harry mentally groaned, he was spinning together a background story here without being able to back it up with any evidence.

One thing was for sure, the first thing he would do the next morning was going to Gringotts and ask the goblins for help, lest he got busted. He needed to keep the fact that he was not only a time traveller as well as the boy from the not yet spoken prophecy but also the fact he was the Master of Death as far away from Dumbledore as possible. Oh no, he was under no illusion what Dumbledore would try to do should he get to know of even one of those three things. He would probably be under so many controlling spells and potions quicker than he would be able to blink and that surely was not something he wanted.

Then there was also the Ministry to put into consideration. They probably would also try to control him, lock him away or give him to the Unspeakables as a play toy. No, there were only two people in this time he would ever trust with this secret and one was currently sitting right next to him. The other…well he would have to meet him before he would make the decision to whether he should tell him anything or not.

"Why would someone hide away from Dumbledore?" Barty questioned his brows furrowed.

Harry sighed. "Okay, perhaps we can come to an agreement over this. You wait until tomorrow after I had the chance to go to Gringotts and get a few things checked and in order. I have no idea what my family did when going into hiding and I don't want to be accused of line theft only because I have no claim on the family name anymore. If you can wait until then I'll tell you everything you want to know _in the common room_ away from prying ears," he told them.

The others looked at each other when Alecto nodded. "Very well, but don't think that you can get away without telling us," she told him flatly.

Right at that moment Slughorn came along the table and walked straight up to Harry.

"Welcome to the house of Slytherin, Mr Eldrid. Dumbledore informed me that you need school supplies as well as a complete set of everyday things. Did you perhaps have a look at the electives already so that we could buy those books too?" he asked with a bright smile.

"Yes, I looked at them, and I decided to continue Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Alchemy and Healing. Though I have to admit that I have no knowledge in Alchemy and Healing, but the knowledge in the other courses should be sufficient for the sixth year," Harry replied. "I'm also sure that I'm good enough to continue Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions."

He had looked at the list on their way from the headmaster's office, and he had been surprised how many classes were offered then it had been the case in his time. Next, to the ones he knew, there were also Alchemy, Healing, Enchanting, advanced Transfiguration…hell, they even had a class dedicated to duelling though that one he didn't want to take because he was quite sure that his duelling abilities were more than sufficient after what he had been through.

"Why not taking duelling?" was Severus' curious question.

Ah, so that was where he got his fierce duelling abilities from. Harry sighed, why not, at least it would keep him fit.

"Okay, add duelling to the list," he muttered with a half-hearted glare towards Severus.

He hadn't wanted to take so many classes, but the bright side was that he certainly wouldn't get bored with so many new courses. Sure, in his first life he had taken up to learn Ancient Runes and Arithmancy through self-study after he quit his job as an Auror and before the mess started that consequently landed him here, but Alchemy and Healing would be new to him. Sure, he knew some healing spells mostly from his many stays in the infirmary and later Auror training, but he was far from really knowing the subject and Alchemy…well that hadn't even been offered in his time.

"Alchemy and Healing should be no problem since both are subjects not taught before the sixth year, so you would only have to catch up with what had been taught since the beginning of the year. What were your O.W.L. scores in the other subjects?" Slughorn inquired.

"Uhm," Harry looked down a pained expression on the face. "I actually never took my O.W.L.s, you see we were hiding. It would have brought too much attention to our family had I taken them officially."

"I see, I see," Slughorn muttered with a thoughtful face. "I'll have to talk to Dumbledore, but it shouldn't be a problem for you to belatedly take your O.W.L.s here at Hogwarts," he finally said with a smile patting Harry on the shoulder. "The afternoon class for your year would be potions so why don't you attend and then we can examine how well you do in that subject and how far you already are."

"I would love to," Harry replied with a tentative smile.

"Don't worry everything will be fine and after the lesson we get you settled in the dorms. Tomorrow then, we'll head to Diagon Alley to get you everything you need," Slughorn's smile brightened.

"Uhm professor, about the trip to Diagon Alley…would…could…" his voice trailed off as if he didn't want to bother his professor with it.

"What is it, Tom?" Horace asked smiling encouraging at him. "You can ask whatever you want; I cannot help you if you don't."

"I wanted to ask whether it is possible that Severus accompanies us," Harry replied. "Only if you want though," he hastily added towards Severus. "You see…I saw my parents die this morning and…and he is the first I met here, and he was so nice to me…"

Severus had a tough time to suppress his snort upon that statement; he had been kind to him? It was more the other way around, but with the beaming smile the professor now sported, it was clear that Harry had him completely wrapped around his finger.

"Of course, is that alright as long as Mr Snape has no objections," he now looked at Severus who shot Harry a contemplating look. Harry, on the other hand, smiled winningly at him.

"Very well, at least I can stock up on a few ingredients at the apothecary," he answered dryly, it would certainly save him the fee for owl ordering them and considering that he hadn't money to waste it was a good thing.

"Good, good, we'll meet tomorrow morning at ten in the entrance hall and then walk down to Hogsmeade from where we'll floo over to Diagon Alley," he explained them. "Since lunch is coming to a close, why don't you eat up and we'll see each other in potions."

Harry nodded and turned back to his lunch while Slughorn walked towards the main entrance to the great hall probably to go and prepare the lesson. Once the professor was out of hearing range, Harry started to snicker.

"Had I known that those little mind games are so amusing I would have done it ages ago," he muttered lowly that only Severus could hear him.

"Indeed," said young man replied with a snicker of his own not wanting to comment on it any further and consequently revealing Harry's secret.

They both finished their lunch before they together walked down to the potions classroom.

"How good are you at potions?" Severus asked him on the way. There were many things he wanted to know that is one of it, but Harry had promised that he would tell him everything he wanted to know, which was the only reason for why he didn't question the other boy until he was blue in the face.

"I honestly don't know. In my time, I received an EE in my O.W.L.s, but that was mostly because my teacher hated my guts and degraded me at every possible opportunity," Harry told him glad that in the dungeons were no portraits that could listen in to their conversation. "But I don't think that I'm that good…I don't know, certainly not as good as you are."

It was true, thanks to the old Snape's constant picking on him he lost all interest in potions, and it was only far after he had graduated that he found that he began to like the subject again though he wasn't all that confident that he was any good at it.

"We'll see," Severus replied looking at Harry contemplatively.

They waited in front of the classroom in silence while slowly the rest of the class trickled in. It took about five minutes before the classroom door opened, and Slughorn told them to come in and take a seat. Harry silently followed Severus to the front and sat right next to him.

"You wouldn't possibly lend me some parchment and a quill to take notes?" he whispered to Severus only to receive an odd look. "What? Do you really think I would remember every tiny detail that might come up in a test? My school time had been quite some time ago after all."

Severus nodded in acknowledgement before he pulled a spare quill and more parchment out of his bag before handing it over to Harry.

Slughorn started to lecture, and it became quickly apparent that they would brew the Draught of the Living Death. Harry couldn't stop his smirk upon hearing that, this was one of the potions he knew by heart and not only the standard version but also the improved one, the one he in his time had found in Severus' book. He had memorised every potion with every change and any note in that book as well as the spells in the case that either a professor or that insufferable know-it-all Granger decided that he couldn't keep the book. However, after the first potion he had brewed following Severus' instructions in the book he knew how invaluable those were, so he merely went to memorise them. It was a good thing that he was quite good at remembering things and that way no one could call him upon using the book.

Therefore, it was no wonder that once they were to brew the potion, he brewed it without even looking in the book ones. The cauldron he borrowed from Slughorn while the ingredients he got from both the storage cupboard and Severus who supplied him with those that weren't in the cupboard.

Humming lowly, he squished the Sopophorous beans with the silver knife he had nicked from Severus before cleaning it with a piece of cloth. It was something he had learned later in his life that not cleaning the blade between using it on two different ingredients was most of the time a terrible idea, except you liked explosions then it would be a great idea.

Severus looked at him strangely taking back the knife Harry had just used coughing lowly. "You're humming," he plainly stated.

Harry looked up from his potion in surprise. "Oh, really? Sorry, that is a habit I picked up from while I cooked meals," he replied with a sheepish smile while finishing his potion.

Just at that moment, Slughorn stepped in front of the two and looked in their cauldrons. "Mr Snape an excellent result as always," he complimented before looking at Harry's potion. "My dear sweet Merlin," he breathed before he pulled out a leaf and placed it in the cauldron observing how it disintegrated in mere seconds. "This is so perfect that one drop of it could probably kill us all."

"How can a sleeping potion kill someone," Sirius dumbly questioned in disbelieve.

"Oh Mr Black, this is very well possible as the Draught of the Living Death is such a potent sleeping draught that it brings the drinker into a death-like state. The problem is, that is the dose too high or the potion too potent it will send you into sleep you will never wake from ever again even with the counter potion which consequently would kill you over time. So, you see, even a sleeping-draught is able to kill you. Mr Eldrid, ten points to Slytherin for excellent work, would you please stay behind?" he explained.

Harry nodded and started to clean up his workspace.

"And you said you're not all that good at potions," Severus muttered. "How did you even manage to get a better result than me?" he asked not even put out that someone had been better, he was merely curious. Potions were his passion, and he always wanted to learn something new so no it didn't bother him if someone was better quite the contrary actually.

Harry instead of replying looked over and into the other boy's schoolbook; he could instantly spot the difference. "Here, after the seven stirs anticlockwise add one stir clockwise and in between the sloth brain and the juice of the Sopophorous beans add three Valerian roots chopped up into little dices," he described.

Severus rose an eyebrow but said nothing to that and only picked up his quill to make the adjustments in his schoolbook before he started to clean up his own workspace. He certainly would test the change in the recipe at a later point in time.

"So, you came across my book?" Severus questioned leaving the _in the future_ part unsaid.

"Yep," Harry replied popping the p but didn't elaborate further being aware that Avery tried to listen in.

When Harry was done cleaning up, he walked up to Slughorn's desk closely followed by Severus.

"Mr Snape?" Slughorn questioned.

"Harry not yet knows where the Slytherin common room is located nor the password," Severus stated dryly as if it was apparent.

"It's okay professor, he can stay," Harry smiled.

"Very well," the professor said before walking around the desk and towards the exit. "I wanted to show you to the common room and assign you a dorm room. However, that is where we meet a small problem. You see the dorms of each year have exactly as many separate rooms as there are students in that year and it is nearly impossible to change the number of rooms once they have been created due to the complicated magic at work. Therefore, you'll have to share a room with one of your year mates."

Harry groaned because this was a complication he hadn't anticipated, though he was surprised when Severus spoke up.

"That will be no problem Professor; I'll gladly share my room with him," he said with a smirk towards Harry that didn't reassure him in the slightest, Severus was up to something, and Harry would have to be very careful lest he got caught up in something he didn't want.

So, it was no wonder that Harry regarded Severus with a contemplating look but in the end, he nodded his approval.

"Good, very good, one less problem I assume," Slughorn beamed leading them into the Slytherin common room. "Next to the common room on the right, you'll find a library and study area. On the left front is the door that leads to the female dorms in the back the one to the male dorms. Severus surely will show you around. The house-elves will supply you with a second bed and a few toiletries but everything else we'll have to buy tomorrow. Do you have any questions?"

"No and thank you for everything, Sir," Harry replied with a shy smile.

"Tom, it is no problem at all, I'm your head of house now, and therefore it is my duty to see you settled in and that you're supplied for school," Slughorn patted him heavily on the back letting Harry nearly stumble. "So, I think I'll leave you to it then and should anything be or you simply needing someone to talk to don't hesitate to come to me."

Harry nodded and watched Slughorn turning around leaving the common room. After that, he turned towards Severus and looked at him expectantly.

"So, you have no problem sharing your room with me?" he asked sceptically.

"Do _you_ have a problem with that?" Severus smirked.

"I wouldn't have agreed had I a problem with it," Harry shook his head. "But I have the feeling that you have some ulterior motive."

Severus laughed. "Since when has a Slytherin not some ulterior motive when doing something," he deadpanned. "Now come, I'll show you where the room is though I hope you have no problem with me brewing potions from time to time."

"Only if you let me check your wards around the brewing station and improve them if necessary," Harry shrugged but elaborated his point when he saw Severus rising an eyebrow in question. "Do you think I want to have the potion's fumes all over the room or want either of us to get hurt should it explode?"

"There are wards for that?" now Severus was intrigued.

Harry only gave him a deadpan look before walking to where Slughorn had told him were the male dorms. He walked down the corridor from which lead doors to the different years. Once he found the door leading to the rooms of the 6th year, he opened it and was pleasantly surprised. Behind the door was a place akin to a small common room from which currently five doors lead to the different bedrooms of the 6th year students.

"Wow, this wasn't what I expected," Harry said in awe.

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know but certainly not this," Harry replied, walking into the room and looking around.

At a table in two armchairs sat Avery and Mulciber obviously brooding over some homework. Both looked up at him with a strange look somewhere between curiosity and disgust, it seemed that they still didn't know what to think about him. Right next to them was a fireplace in which a warm fire merrily burned bathing the room in light and warmth. Mainly the latter was necessary because the dungeons always were cold without the heat of a fire.

"My room is the one on the left," Severus explained with a gesture towards the door.

Harry nodded and walked over to it and opened it. It seemed that the house-elves already knew about him staying here because behind it was a room with two four-poster beds accompanied with a bedside table next to each, two desks, drawers and shelves for books and other things. The room was kept in shades of dark green and black. Illuminated and heated was it by a small fireplace that bathed the room in soft orange light. On the desks were lamps so that you could see adequately while working. Harry could see that Severus had enlarged his desk and set up a potions lab on it as he already told Harry.

"Nice," was Harry's only comment.

"We're allowed to change the room to our own satisfaction so if you want to change anything in your half feel free to do so," Severus explained walking over to his trunk which he opened and started to rummage around.

"Nah, I like it as it is. Very homey," Harry replied slumping down on his bed coming to lie on it spread-eagled.

Severus who observed that snickered lowly. "Say how old have you been before you ended up here?" he asked after putting up some privacy wards.

"Do you really want to know?" Harry questioned turning his head so that he could look at Severus.

In return, Severus shot him a look that clearly told Harry that the other boy wouldn't have asked otherwise.

Harry sighed. "Very well, I have been…35," he said in a low voice looking at his hands hearing a choking sound from Severus. "But it doesn't matter, I'm here now, I'm sixteen, and I have no desire to get back," he added with a pointed look.

"Fair point but don't you fear that things might get boring for you? I mean you must know so much more," he asked in curiosity though he was quite shocked by Harry's actual age. Merlin, he was twice the age he was, but on the other hand, Harry was right, he was sixteen now or at least in the body of sixteen years old and since he obviously didn't want to get back…let's just say that Severus would be the last one to complain about it.

"Hence why I took classes that weren't even available anymore in my time like healing and alchemy," Harry snickered while sitting up.

Severs nodded humming in acknowledgement. "Why don't you come over so that we can talk properly?"

Harry stood up, walked over, took a seat on Severus' bed, and leaned against one of the four posters opposite of Severus.

"So, what do you want to know?" he asked.

"How about…everything?" Severus replied as if that had been a stupid question.

Harry snorted, somehow, he hadn't expected anything else. "Well, where should I start…" he muttered.

"Try with the beginning," Severus deadpanned.

"That would be back to Dumbledore's youth going over his young adulthood and liaison with Gellert Grindelwald their fallout and the subsequent death of Dumbledore's sister Ariana resulting in Grindelwald fleeing England and waging war over Europe. Then it continues with the youth of one Tom Marvolo Riddle followed by Dumbledore defeating Grindelwald and so on and so forth. If I start, there we'll probably still be here on Monday…" Harry said with an amused glint in his eyes only to receive an unimpressed glare though he could also see curiosity over what he just said. "Okay, okay, I think I know where to start to be precisely three years from now give or take. But before I start you need to know something, no matter how it might sound at first, nothing of what happened had been your fault…will be…ah you know what I mean. Just let me finish, and you'll see."

Severus rose an eyebrow but nodded, so Harry started his tale, the tale of his life.

"As I said everything really started up in 1979 so three years from now. It was some time between the beginning of August and the end of the year though I don't know the exact date and it doesn't really matter.

"Dumbledore was searching for a new Divinations professor and therefore held an interview with Sybill Trelawney, great-great-granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney, a well-known seer. You might think now that they conducted the meeting here in Hogwarts but no, not at all. No, the interview he held at the Hog's Head his brother's pub. Why he did it there, I have no idea but a few assumptions.

"However, he held it there, and that was when something happened. You have to know that Sybill Trelawney is a complete fraud. In her entire life, she hadn't even seen a glimpse of the future not to mention given a prophecy. However, that is precisely what happened; during that interview, she suddenly sprouted a prediction. The exact wording is this:

 _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...  
Born to those who have thrice defied him,  
born as the seventh month dies...  
and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,  
but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...  
and either must die at the hand of the other  
for neither can live while the other survives...  
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..._

"At the same time, you also visited that pub. When you saw Dumbledore together with Trelawney vanishing upstairs, curiosity got the better of you, and you followed. You listened in on them, but unfortunately, you only heard the first three lines of the prophecy before Aberforth caught you and threw you out.

"The thing is that at that time, you already joined the ranks of the Dark Lord and you saw that as an opportunity to prove yourself to him. So, you went to him as quickly as possible and relayed what you heard not believing that he would give credit to one word of the prophecy but wanting to inform him nonetheless. However, for reasons unknown even to me, though I have a suspicion, the Dark Lord went completely nuts over it starting to hunt down families that were expecting a child at the end of July. In the end, he narrowed it down to two families, the Longbottoms and the Potters," here Severus who up to now listened intently drew a sharp breath.

"You don't plan on telling the Dark Lord about that, do you?" he asked suspiciously not because he was overly worried about Potter, but he already knew that Lily eventually would marry him and therefore she would be in danger too.

"Eventually, yes I will," Harry confirmed but when he said that hurt and betrayal instantly entered Severus' expression. "Severus, I'm not stupid, and of course I'll make sure that he doesn't repeat his mistake. Now if you let me continue, you'll hopefully see why I'm more comfortable with letting him know something early he would get to know anyway than letting history play out the same way twice," Severus nodded but still had a hurt look in his eyes. "Where was I? Ah yes, he narrowed it down to the Longbottoms and the Potters though he decided to go after the child that was more like himself, a half-blood. Uhm, that is something you should probably keep to yourself if you don't want to draw his ire upon you," Harry smirked when Severus nearly choked upon that revelation.

"Anyway, James and Lily went into hiding once they got to know about it. They hid behind a Fidelius charm in their cottage in Godric's Hollow. I know what you want to ask…why not Potter Manor since it has far better wards. That is where Albus-too-many-fuckin'-names Dumbledore comes into play. You see that bastard counted on that prophesied child to defeat the Dark Lord instead of moving his own ass and do it himself hence why he convinced James that it would be far better to hide away in the cottage because Potter Manor would be oh so obvious. James so stuck up Dumbledore's backside that he could see the light again followed that advice without questioning it, wanting to make Black the secret keeper. But Dumbledore again intervened convincing Black to convince Potter that he again was too obvious and that they should switch…to Pettigrew."

"They trusted that snivelling rat?" Severus interrupted in disbelieve not knowing just how accurate that description was.

"James did, but Lily was sceptical hence why she instantly started to research other methods of protection. On Halloween 1981 then the inevitable happened and Pettigrew went straight to the Dark Lord giving away the location where they were hiding. The Dark Lord then went to the cottage the same evening blasting through the door, killing James first. Lily in the meantime ran upstairs with me and into my nursery where she barricaded the door to no avail. Not long after that he also blasted through that door and asked my mother to step aside to get to me," Harry told but again was interrupted.

"Wait, why would _he_ ask a Muggle-born to step aside?" he asked.

"Because you asked him to spare her," Harry replied with a smirk.

Severus blinked in surprise. "I beg your pardon?" he dryly stated.

"Yes, despite your fallout with my mother, the second you became aware of what he was going to do and whom he was after you went to him and asked him to spare Lily and yes, he did as you asked. You see unlike Dumbledore he practises what he preaches," Harry took a break to conjure up a glass he filled with water to drink offering one to Severus too, but he declined. "And he listens to what those close to him told him, and you managed to become one of his inner circle quite quickly mostly because of your Mastery in potions and your fierce duelling abilities."

"Except the whole blood purity matter," Severus rose an eyebrow.

Harry snickered lowly taking a sip from his water. "I think that is more a misunderstanding on the side of the purebloods. As far as I'm aware Tom only has problems with muggles, as well as the fact that muggle-born and those half-bloods raised the muggle way waltz into our society with their prejudice and their set ways expecting us to change our traditions to their expectations and I can hardly blame him," Harry shook his head. "I don't know how you celebrate Halloween in this time but in my time, it was an insult to how it was supposed to be, it became a feast to gorge on sweets until you vomit. It had nothing in common with the remembrance of the dead anymore."

If Severus couldn't understand just why Harry thought as he did, he did now. In fact, he looked slightly ill.

"But if you thought that bad it is nothing compared to what happened after the second wizarding war when the Dark Lord was ultimately killed. Everyone suddenly went all muggle loving in remembrance to Dumbledore and his goals, preaching that it was time for them to reconnect, that the muggles would understand and that we didn't need to hide anymore. Completely bollocks if you ask me, and I would have been proven right hadn't I that little accident ending up here. I don't know for how long the world would have survived, but I doubt it would have been for long," he sighed and looked down. No, trusting muggles was one sure way to get the world destroyed.

"Five years," suddenly a new voice said from beside the bed letting Harry chuckle and Severus jump in shock and surprise, drawing his wand, and pointing it at the pale old man standing between the two beds looking at them with an amused glint in his eyes. "Give or take."

"That is longer than I would have given them," Harry laughed before he looked at the man. "Hello, Death. Oh, and Severus, take the wand down, you can't kill him and would probably only manage to piss him off."

"Who is that and how did he get in here?" Severus asked cautiously but lowered his wand, not putting it away though.

"Severus meet the entity known as Death. Death, you probably already know Severus since I have a growing suspicion that it was your doing that I ended up here," Harry introduced the two.

"Indeed," Death chuckled.

"Death?" Severus questioned in disbelieve but relaxed enough to sit back down since Harry hadn't even twitched when the entity appeared, and the man only looked amused, but he still had his wand in hand just in case.

"Yes, Death. This is part of what I didn't tell you yet but to make things short…have you ever heard of _The Tales of the Three Brothers_?" Severus nodded slowly wondering where Harry was going with this. "Yeah…not just a tale, at least not everything. The three Hallows are real, I happened to come across them, and since I'm a direct descendant of Ignotus Peverell the third of the brothers…well, long story short. I'm the Master of Death."

"Next you tell me you're related to the Dark Lord himself," Severus deadpanned.

"Actually…not closely but he is the descendant of Cadmus the second brother," Harry sheepishly admitted. "Do you want to hear the best?" he teased Severus who looked on the verge of collapsing thanks to all the shocking news.

"How can there even be more?" he would never admit it to anyone, but he whined.

"Through the three brothers both Tom and I are related to Salazar Slytherin himself," Harry snickered.

* * *

A/N: Yeah I know…not the best place to end the chapter *smiles angelically*. What? No one bought that? Pity. 'til next chapter!


	3. Dark Lords and other Jokes

A/N: Hello and welcome back! Yeah…still no beta…oh and yes I don't fuckin' know what my muse thinks most of the time…so don't take certain things to seriously.

So should my muse decide that it would be a good idea that Tom (Riddle not Harry) and Death together perform Romeo and Juliet in the great hall in front of everyone…that idea actually has merit…see that is what I mean my muse is just absolutely and completely bonkers!

* * *

Chapter 3: Dark Lords and other Jokes

"You're related to Salazar Slytherin?!" Severus' left eye twitched.

"Uhm yes," Harry replied apprehensively not knowing what to think about Severus' antics.

"I need a drink," Severus deadpanned before he stood up and walked over to his wardrobe and pulled open the lowest drawer rummaging around it. After a few moments, he smirked taking out a bottle of Firewhiskey together with a glass. Carrying both he walked over to the bed and sat down again before he poured himself a drink. When he the glass was sufficiently full he held out the bottle towards Harry who laughed, drained his own glass, and filled it up with Firewhiskey.

"Do I want to know why you have a bottle of Firewhiskey hidden in your wardrobe?" he wondered taking a sip of the amber liquid savouring the burning sensation down his throat.

"Birthday present but it's the first time I opened it, normally I'm not into drinking," Severus muttered.

Harry merely nodded knowing what the other teenager was talking about, his abusive father. "So, Death, what did you mean with five years?" he now addressed the entity about the one thing he was most interested in about the future.

"After your tragic demise, they continued on with their plans to reveal the magical world to the muggles. About a year later every person on the planet knew that magic existed, and it took only about half a year of trying to find a peaceful way until all hell broke loose. Most of the non-magicals feared what those with magic would be able to do, it was the Spanish Inquisition all over again. That was when somewhat a year and a half later certain governments were fed up and declared open war. After that everything went downhill and fast. Eight months later the first nuclear bomb fell hitting Diagon Alley first. The non-magicals didn't care that they were killing more of their own kind than magicals with it, in their opinion every dead magical was a win. After that, all inhibitions fell, and every kind of weapon was used…chemical, biological, atomic it didn't matter anymore. Thirteen to fourteen months after that the entire planet was only a radioactive wasteland anymore with acid swamps and lakes filled with toxic waste. The last people were struggling to survive but, in the end, they died too," Death explained.

"What about those idiots that _killed_ me?" he inquired.

"Oh, I made sure that they survived until the very end," Death chuckled lowly.

"Good!" Harry said in satisfaction, would serve them right for what they did to him.

Severus on the other hand only sat there listening to what would happen to their world going paler with every word the entity spoke. In the end, he drained his glass in one go only to refill it and repeat the process filling it again, but this time he didn't drink it instantly but just sipped at it.

"I hope that you'll succeed with whatever you planned," he finally said.

"Believe me, I will even if it is the last thing I do," Harry declared with determination. "If I have to see those idiots' dead before they are even born so mote it be, that is also why I need to talk to the Dark Lord…I'll need help because I'm certainly not so arrogant as to think that I'll be able to do this on my own. That brings me to my next question…what about specific changes?"

Death chuckled lowly knowing what his Master wanted to know. "Don't worry this is not the past as you assumed, not entirely. I brought you into an entirely different universe where everything just happened to be the same until you arrived," he told him.

"Good! One thing less to worry about," Harry now grinned mischievously. "I would hate to create a paradox."

"What have you planned?" Severus asked cautiously.

"Let's just say that I care less about certain people becoming a couple or others suddenly turning up dead…ugh that remind me, I surely have to talk to the goblins tomorrow about a background story for me…" Harry couldn't suppress the groan.

Death again chuckled lowly. "To your fortune, I took care of that little problem of yours," he said. "Cyndia Eldrid and Alfred Eldrid, unfortunately, got caught in a Death Eater attack and were consequently killed while their sixteen-year-old son managed to escape. I can give you memories of your life with them if you want an airtight background story."

Harry thought about it, it certainly would help with Dumbledore, so yes, he was all for it. Luckily, he had been able to avoid the man's unhealthy habit of reading one's thoughts today by avoiding his gaze, but he knew that this wouldn't work in the long run. So "Do it!" was his entire answer.

Death smirked before he touched Harry's forehead with his index finger. It took a moment before Harry grunted and cringed in pain, but it stopped as quickly as it started, though a headache still remained.

"What the fuck was that?" he growled pressing his hands against his temples when suddenly memories started to flitter before his inner eye, memories about his parents tutoring him, playing with him…being killed by the Death Eaters, an entire life worth of memories.

"You are welcome," Death drawled sarcastically.

Harry glared at him half-heartedly before he drained his glass. "I think I'll go to bed," he groaned when he stood up and swayed slightly.

"That will be for the best," Death smirked.

"You take far too much pleasure out of that," Harry sneered before he flopped down on his bead not even bothering with undressing.

"I'll go now, have fun!" with that Death vanished with a last snicker.

"Oh, I will…I will," Harry muttered before he was out cold not even noticing that Death was long gone.

Severus watched Harry walking over to his own bed and falling down upon it before he was asleep nearly instantaneously. Shaking his head over the other's antics, he stood up, placed his whiskey on his bedside table and walked over to Harry and shoved him to lie on the bed properly before he pulled out the sheets from beneath him and draped them over the teenager knowing how cold it would be at night. Once he was done, he went back to his own bead and sat down again leaning against the headboard, the glass with whiskey in his hand. Whirling the content around in the glass he mused about what he learned from his new roommate and the entity Death, all in all, he thought that he was taking everything quite well but that probably would only last until he had processed everything.

Thinking what Harry had told him before lunch, he couldn't help himself but snort. Wizarding kind dying indeed…the whole bloody world would die if they didn't do anything. He wondered briefly where he had been in that future but in the end, came to the conclusion that it wouldn't matter because Harry would hopefully prevent it from happening in the first place. Severus decided there and then that he would help him no matter what and if that meant siding with the Dark Lord to achieve what Harry wanted so mote it be.

That brought him onto an entirely different train of thought, Harry and that he apparently wanted the boy. But Merlin he was thirty-five years old, not to mention Master of Death. This thought alone sobered him up. How would he ever be good enough for Harry? In comparison to him he was nothing, sure he was powerful and knew his spells but besides that? He was only a poor half-blood with nothing to his name except for pain and abuse. Staring down at the amber liquid that filled his glass he wondered what he was doing. He usually wasn't one who enjoyed alcohol, not after having to watch his father beating his mother unconscious ones to often only because he was drunk. However, at least Harry wanted to be his friend and Severus would do everything to keep it that way and if that meant to give up the hope of becoming more to him…though he wouldn't give up without a fight.

Severus swirled the liquor in his glass again before he with a sigh emptied his glass and prepared himself for bed. Not much later he laid in bed and with his last thought being about Harry he finally succumbed to sleep despite it still being quite early.

* * *

The next morning Severus woke as usual at six with a slight buzzing head. Great, he shouldn't have drunk so much the evening prior but with what he had learned…who could blame him. However, he wasn't used to drinking alcohol since never having drunk anything stronger than Butterbeer. Groaning slightly, he pushed off his bed and made his way over to his trunk to get a headache potion. Searching for it he finally found it and downed it without further thought sighing in relief when the buzzing vanished entirely.

He looked over to Harry's bed and saw the other teenager lying there spread-eagled on his blanket snoring slightly, he wondered that the teenager wasn't freezing. Snickering lowly, he went through to the bathroom to do his morning routine and getting ready for the day. While under the shower he mused about Harry wanting to contact the Dark Lord.

Would he be able to convince the Dark Lord of his view on things?

Or would he have to do everything alone?

Severus hoped not. He knew what state the world was in thanks to living in the muggle world because of his father and both the United States and the USSR were producing more and more nuclear weapons, which wasn't even putting into consideration all the other weapons. If his information was correct, there were currently something around fifty thousand atomic weapons…enough to bomb the planet to hell and back thrice. Alone the thought what could happen made him shudder and to think that the pure-bloods were utterly oblivious to that threat…it would be a rude wakeup call for them.

Shaking his head, he banned those thoughts behind his Occlumency shields not wanting to go down that particular road with his thought, it was just too depressing. When he was done showering and drying himself, he walked out of the bathroom only a towel wrapped around his midsection. It was when he became aware that Harry was staring at him that he blushed slightly. He was so used to having his room alone for himself that he hadn't thought about him when walking around only with a towel covering his lower parts.

"I could get used to waking up with such a marvellous view," Harry snickered unaware of the blush that now adorned Severus' cheeks because the other teenager stood with his back to him.

Severus didn't know what to think about it. On the one hand, he obviously fancied Harry if his feelings were anything to go by but on the other, he knew who Harry was and that worried him. What if he angered the boy when wanting to become more than being friends with him, he didn't want to die because he made such a stupid mistake thank you very much.

But then there were the comments Harry made and he apparently liked his looks, that gave him an idea, he could have one hell lot of fun with that and maybe…just maybe he could convince Harry that it was what he wanted, to be shagged senseless by him. Alone the thought about what he would do caused a reaction and Severus had to think about the most disgusting ingredients as not to go through with his thoughts. No, he would do this slowly, leading Harry to the conclusion that he wanted him. Merlin, he had to be careful, he knew Harry for not even one day and apparently already had a crush on the boy.

So, with a plan in his mind, he pulled new pants out of the drawer and donned them extremely slowly before he removed the towel and threw it onto his bed. That followed his trousers and finally his shirt, which then hid his body entirely from view. Everything he did, he did slowly and with carefully measured movements.

"What a pity, the view just deteriorated," Harry suddenly whispered in his ear making him stiffen slightly because he hadn't heard him come over, though he would never openly admit it.

He watched Harry vanishing into the bathroom when a smirk appeared on his face. Oh yes, this would undoubtedly be a lot of fun.

It took Harry about fifteen minutes to emerge from the bathroom dressed in the same clothes he wore the day prior though considering that he had nothing else it was no wonder. What Severus recognised though was that they had been cleaned and straightened out.

"Didn't you say you have no wand?" he inquired curiously wondering just how Harry had done it.

"I told Dumbledore that, yes, but it was…well it is complicated," Harry answered pulling a small bag that fits in his palm from his belt. Grabbing into it he pulled out a wand before he threw it to Severus.

Severus swiftly caught the wand before he closely inspected it, quickly recognising it.

"That is Dumbledore's wand," he said astonished.

"And that is the reason for why I didn't tell him. As I told you the tale of the three brothers isn't just a tale, this is the elder wand," Harry elaborated taking back the wand Severus held out towards him and placing it back in the small bag that obviously was larger than it seemed. "The resurrection stone," he continued pulling out a pendant from under his shirt. "And the invisibility cloak is also in my bag. But I rarely use any of these because I don't want to draw attention to my status."

"Understandable," Severus admitted nodding slowly, he didn't want to imagine what Dumbledore or the Ministry would do to him should they get to know. "It is quarter past seven, want to have breakfast?"

Harry nodded, and they both left towards the great hall. When they arrived, Harry saw that only very few and mostly Ravenclaws were already awake but considering that breakfast just started, not to mention that it was weekend, it wasn't that much of a surprise. Following Severus, they both sat down at the Slytherin table Severus pouring himself a cup of very strong coffee before offering Harry some. Grateful for the strong brew Harry took the jug and poured a cup himself. They silently ate their breakfast observing how the hall slowly filled more and more, though the most would come on the last minute to grab something to eat or forgo the meal entirely in favour of sleeping in.

Once they were done with breakfast, Harry and Severus walked outside sitting on a stone bench and passing the time until they would leave for Diagon Alley with discussing several potions and ingredients.

"I have to admit that I always had problems following the instructions in those books," Harry suddenly said. "Most of the time they are far too vague for my liking and never did they explain why an ingredient was prepared the way they described."

"So, you like precise instructions more?" Severus concluded.

"Yes, when I found your book when I was in my sixth year I was finally able to understand what I was doing," here he sighed. "I just don't know…I mean I love potions but even without my professor degrading me at any chance he got…."

"Your professor really must have hated you," Severus muttered. "Which makes him a dunderhead, in my opinion, should you really be as good in potions as I think you are, which I don't doubt."

Harry laughed at that getting a strange look from Severus, but he wasn't in a hurry to tell him that he just called himself a dunderhead, it was just too funny. "I don't know how much of it actually was hatred and how much pretence. You see he was in a tight spot, having to spy on the Dark Lord for Dumbledore while he had to pretend that it was actually the other way around, so he probably threw most of his scorn my way to keep me away from him and the potential danger he posed to me. Beside that, it looks to me that while he held some grudge against me for being my father's son and getting into trouble regularly, though it was never my wish to do so, he on the other hand also saw my mother in me and tried to protect me for her," here Harry chuckled lowly. "I don't know how many times he actually saved my life."

Severus hummed lowly when he saw Professor Slughorn walking out through the front entrance and looking around. When his gaze fell upon the two, he walked over with a bright smile.

"The other Slytherins told me where you are. Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir!" Harry replied while Severus only nodded.

Together the three walked until they reached the end of the wards from where Slughorn then apparated them all straight to Gringotts.

* * *

Tom Marvolo Riddle was sitting in his study at a large desk reading reports from his followers while a mug with strong and hot coffee stood next to him when suddenly a knock echoed through the room.

"Come in!" he commanded watching as one of his oldest friends walked in and fell down onto one of his knees his head bowed in respect. "Enyalius Carrow, please stand up and sit down," he didn't know how often he told his inner circle that they didn't need to bow to him, that this was for his lower ranks, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. "To what do I owe this early visit? Is everything alright? Can I offer you something? Tea? Coffee?"

"Thank you Marvolo, a tea wouldn't go amiss," Enyalius nodded in thanks when a cup with fresh black tea appeared before him courtesy of the resident house-elves. "The reason for why I came today is that my son Amycus sent me a letter that contained information I think you might find highly intriguing. So was it yesterday before lunch that suddenly a boy, sixteen years of age, appeared on the Hogwarts grounds with no one knowing how or why. The main opinion is that he and his family got caught up in an attack where his parents got killed, and he escaped through means unknown up to now."

Marvolo hummed lowly before he shuffled through some parchment pulling out the one he was searching for before holding it out to Enyalius. "Tell me, my friend, do you believe in coincidences?" he asked.

The other man carefully took the parchment and read what it contained. It was a report of a Death Eater attack the day prior, which said that during the attack on a small mall unfortunately also two magicals had been killed while a third who fitted the age of the boy, who appeared at Hogwarts, managed to escape. It had been an attack Marvolo hadn't condescended of and who made his displeasure about it clear especially when he learned that magicals had died during it.

"This certainly is not a coincidence. From the information I got the boy wore muggle clothes that certainly have seen better days which, considering that the attack has been in a muggle area, would fit," he continued his report giving back the parchment. "Amycus also wrote that the boy obviously was home-schooled but for the time being would attend Hogwarts being sorted into Slytherin. He also reported that the boy seems to stay close to Severus Snape and the two together with Professor Slughorn will go to Diagon Alley today at ten to buy the boy's equipment and other things he would need," with his report finished he fell silent observing Marvolo tapping hit mouth with his finger in thought.

"Did your son mention the name of the boy?" Marvolo asked after a while of thinking through what he just learned.

"My apology, the boy's name is Tom Hadrian Eldrid," he replied bowing his head curtly cursing himself inwardly for having missed mentioning it.

With that Marvolo's head snapped up and he looked his follower and friend straight in the eyes before he started to chuckle lowly. "This is interesting indeed. Something tells me that the boy isn't what he seems to be," he mused.

"May I ask what has your interest piqued, Marvolo?" Enyalius inquired.

Instead of giving an answer, Marvolo flicked his hand making the boy's last name appear in fiery letters next to him before he with another flick of his hand rearranged them to the name _Riddle_.

Enyalius drew a sharp breath. "Do you think he knows?" he wondered.

"I'm not certain, but I somehow doubt that he doesn't. It seems to me that the boy wanted to gain my attention which he certainly managed to get. What do you think about a trip to Diagon Alley today?" Marvolo now smirked, he definitely wanted to know who the boy was that so boldly tried to gain his attention without revealing anything about himself.

"Very well," Enyalius nodded standing and waiting for his lord to lead the way.

Marvolo strode out of the room with confident strides leading them towards the entrance hall of his manor where they were greeted by two house-elves with their coats. Once they donned them, they both apparated to Diagon Alley.

* * *

"I bloody hate side-along apparition," Harry cursed once he regained his bearings earning himself a low chuckle from Severus. "Yeah, yeah, you can laugh. I swear floo and side-along were only invented to be my enemy," he rumbled making Severus chuckle even louder which earned him a glare that the future Potions Master was completely unimpressed of. "Professor, I know that you have a lot of work to do so I suggest you leave us to our shopping and meet us at noon again, we wouldn't want to bore you or take more of your precious time I don't doubt would be spent far better otherwise."

"Tom, you were attacked just yesterday. I can not in good conscience leave you alone," Slughorn replied with a worried face.

"Professor, do you really think he would attack Diagon Alley in broad daylight? From what I know he never did such a thing, and I highly doubt that he will do so now only because I managed to escape, not with so many people around," Harry set up a pleading look, but at the same time he wondered exactly why it was so full in Diagon Alley, wasn't a war going on? Though then again Severus didn't mention any attacks outside of those against the opposite faction and the odd one on muggles. That was certainly something he would think about later. "Besides that, we'll probably be at Gringotts for most of the time, and this is the most secure place in magical Britain."

Slughorn looked at him seemingly unsure of what to do. On the one hand they were his students, and it was his duty to keep them safe but on the other Harry was right, the Dark Lord up to this date had never attacked a location where anyone except his intended target had been, not to mention that there was a massive pile of homework he needed to correct. "Very well," he sighed. "But should something go wrong get straight back here to Gringotts, the goblins will protect you," he said with a stern glare.

"Of course, Professor," Harry nodded with a smile. "And I'll instantly send you a message with my Patronus."

"I beg your pardon?" Slughorn suddenly looked as if Harry decided to grow a second head and even Severus looked shocked and surprised though it was better hidden.

Harry, on the other hand, looked sheepishly down at his feet as if caught by doing something forbidden. "Well, I am able to cast the Patronus Charm and know how to send a message with it," he said in a small voice.

That made Slughorn laugh and pat him on his back. "You're truly an extraordinary boy, Tom. At some point, you have to show me how that works but for now, I'll leave you two to it. I want you to be at the Leaky Cauldron at one o'clock sharp, and no minute later, Severus surely will show you the way," he told the two teenagers with a stern glare before he smiled again and apparated away back to grading papers.

"The Patronus?" Severus rose an eyebrow inquiringly while he followed Harry into Gringotts.

"Had to learn it when I was thirteen because Dumbledore thought it a good idea to allow Dementors at Hogwarts because my innocent godfather broke out of Azkaban, which he by the way knew…that he was innocent not that he broke out…well that he certainly also knew," Harry explained while he walked up to the shortest row in wait of a teller.

"Dementors at Hogwarts?" Severus asked in disbelieve though he made sure to keep his voice low.

"Indeed," Harry snickered.

"The old fool either got even more demented in your time, or he decided to take a leap into the lake of insanity," he shook his head. "What do you think the goblins will have for you?"

"I don't know but I trust Death and with how much he already did to cover my past I doubt that he'll leave me without money," Harry shrugged when the last wizard in front of them and the teller was free. "Good morning and may your weapons always stay sharp."

That certainly drew the attention of the goblin who looked at him with barely concealed interest. "And may you always be victorious," the goblin greeted back. "How may I be of assistance?"

"I hope so," Harry replied with a smirk. "However, I find myself in a highly…unusual situation and wish to talk to a goblin in private."

"And what, may you tell me, is your highly unusual situation?" the goblin asked raising an eyebrow.

"Let's just say that my past is my future and that certain items happened to end up in my possession," with that Harry pulled the chain from which the resurrection stone dangled out of his shirt so that the goblin could see the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. At some point during his days as Auror, he had learned that the goblins very well knew about the Hallows and what they mean and that they respect the owner quite a lot.

The goblin suddenly sat straighter. "Of course, if you would please follow me," he said before he hopped from the stool he sat on and walked down one of the corridors closely followed by Harry and Severus.

"May I inquire your name, my friend?" Harry asked casually while following the goblin who was surprisingly quick for his size.

"My name is Griphook, Sir," the goblin replied with a short glance towards Harry long enough to see the boy's surprise. "From your reaction, I get that you already know me."

"That I do indeed. Mr Griphook, it would be my honour would you accompany me in the talks ahead," Harry said with a curt bow of his head. Not only did the goblins know what it meant to be the owner of one of the Hallows but also time travel was not foreign to them.

"As you wish," Griphook replied when he came to a halt in front of a large and massive golden door.

A plaque to the side read Gornuk, Director of Gringotts. Griphook knocked sharply and opened the door as soon as the command to come in was heard. The three walked into an office the like they have never seen before. At each wall hang either sharp and dangerous looking weapons or tapestries depicting goblin wars. Behind a vast desk sat a goblin that seemed to be quite old but able to defend himself despite his age, Harry certainly would never want to end on the goblin's wrong side. The desk though was covered in many scrolls and pieces of parchment. Then there were also many shelves placed along the walls filled with paper, smaller weapons, books and whatever else.

"Griphook, what is it? Why did you interrupt me?" the goblin, Gornuk, snarled baring his teeth threateningly.

"Sir, this wizard," here he pointed at Harry before he continued. "Is the owner of the three Hallows."

Gornuk's eye went wide while he openly stared at Harry. "Is there any proof to your claim?" he asked Harry who walked over to the goblin and again pulled his pendant out from under his shirt to show it to Gornuk who closely inspected it. "I have to apologise, Master of Death, but we have to be careful when it comes to certain things."

"No apology needed, I can understand your suspiciousness and I would be grateful would this never leave this room, I certainly don't want to find out what happens should the Ministry or heaven forbid Dumbledore gain knowledge about my status. Though I would be honoured would you call me Harry," he told the goblin while walking back to where Severus was still standing and observing everything carefully, this was the first time Severus interacted with the goblins for more than exchanging some muggle money, and he was highly intrigued.

"That goes without saying, Harry, Gringotts prides itself with its secrecy. So, I assume that you trust your friend with this?" Gornuk spoke motioning them to sit down which they gladly followed.

"He's already in the know and yes I trust Severus," Harry replied. "I also wish for Griphook to stay as I might want to instate him as my manager."

That came as a surprise to the goblin who still stood next to the door not wanting to intrude on them or leave without the approval of his superior knowing that that would be a severe transgression for which he would probably be degraded to a cart driver. Though being instated as a family estate manager was a big thing. Usually when someone ascended to the rank of estate manager one started with a few lower family estates, but with Harry it was big…really big, especially with the boy's status as Master of Death.

"How comes it that the goblins know about the Hollows?" Severus questioned in a low voice.

"Severus, the goblins manage the wealth and properties of most of the magical community as well as trade artefacts and books for centuries now, so it is no wonder that they have accumulated quite some knowledge over time. They probably have more knowledge than the entire wizarding world together especially with how restricted certain knowledge is. Next to the house-elves, they are a race I would never want to piss off, believe me, that would be something no one wants," Harry chuckled. "I would probably have been offended had they not known."

"And rightly so," Gornuk said. "Death always has been a good friend of the goblin nation. So how may we be of help?"

"First, I would like to know whether I have access to any vaults and if yes how much money I have as well as any properties," Harry explained. "Second, I request the help of the goblin nation to prevent a future I can confidently say no one wants to see. Of course, I would repay you with invaluable knowledge about magical as well as muggle business that will probably earn you more money than you would be able to store."

"Your first request will easily be solved. We only need a few drops of your blood to confirm your identity. After that I will be able to give you a detailed list of everything you possess," Gornuk told them motioning Griphook to go and fetch one of the identity tests since he usually didn't need them and therefore had none in his office.

When Griphook a few minutes later returned with a piece of parchment and a dagger he placed everything on the desk before Harry. Gornuk motioned him to proceed, and Harry picked up the blade and nicked the skin on his left index finger before letting three drops of his blood fall onto the parchment. Once that was done he healed his wound and sterilised the dagger as not to leave any blood behind knowing what could be done with it.

Nodding in approval, Gornuk picked up the parchment to read it through.

"As I thought you have access to the Peverell estate," he said when a folder magically appeared on his desk though he ignored it for now. "The Peverell estate was instated by Death himself to aid anyone he deemed worthy though it hadn't been touched since the three brothers a few hundred years ago. This lists everything that is associated with the Peverell estate."

Harry took the parchment reading it he nearly choked, the money in the vaults was even more than he had in his previous life as a Potter, the only thing he could do was stare.

"Death gave us free rein over the money in those vaults with the only stipulation that 50% of the income we make with it goes into the vault and that we allow access to anyone he deems worthy. Over time we were able to accumulate quite an amount of money with well-placed investments," Gornuk explained when he saw Harry's reaction. "It seems that Death gave you full access."

"Is it really so much?" Severus wondered what all that was about.

Harry just shoved the parchment at him not trusting his voice at the moment. With this, he could easily fund any operation needed to keep this world safe.

Severus next to him looked the parchment over and suddenly started to cough heavily, Harry absently patting his back. He couldn't believe it, all vaults together held somewhat over 5 billion Galleons, and that wasn't putting into consideration what priceless artefacts were stored there or the manors that probably came with the Peverell estate. Again, Severus was reminded just how insignificant he was next to Harry. How could he have even a slice of hope to be more to him than a passing acquaintance?

"Do you possibly have a detailed list of buildings that come with the Peverell estate?" Harry asked once he found his voice again. "And what about taking up the title of Lord Peverell, what are the stipulations?"

"I have a list here with all buildings belonging to the Peverell estate, two manors in England, a townhouse in London, as well as several manors all over the world," Gornuk pulled out several other sheets though Harry only took the one about the townhouse.

"At the moment I'm only interested in the townhouse. What about the Lordship?" Harry said while looking over the information about the townhouse, it was two blocks from the Leaky Cauldron in muggle London and certainly would need some renovations but all in all it was perfect for now. It had three guest rooms, one master bedroom, kitchen, study, library, sitting room, just everything Harry would need.

"The Lordship can be claimed by anyone who connected with at least one of the hallows. Besides that, there are no further stipulations to who can claim the Lordship," Gornuk said after looking up the information in the folder.

Harry hummed lowly, he could take up the Lordship of Peverell but that probably will alert Dumbledore, and he somehow doubted that the old fool would not connect it back to him.

"Is there a way to do it without alerting anyone to it?" he thus asked.

"Since you're underage we could conveniently forget to inform certain people and make sure that those who must be informed don't tell either, but once you reach the age of seventeen you must come forth and announce yourself as Lord Peverell," the director answered.

Harry sighed. "One year must suffice then. Very well I'll take up the mantle of Lord Peverell, and I also want to instate Griphook as the estate manager. Griphook, if you would make sure that the townhouse is brought back into a habitable condition and heavily warded I would be grateful. I don't care what the price is I want the strongest wards possible," Griphook nodded and quickly noted what Harry said.

That followed quite some pushing of papers and signing even more. In the end, Harry became Lord Peverell though for now, he would continue to use the name Eldrid as not to raise any suspicions. He also signed the contract for the improvements and warding of the townhouse and got something akin to a credit card connected to his vaults so that he wouldn't have to come to Gringotts every time he needed money. At last, he also signed Griphook as his estate manager.

Once all the paper pushing was done, he gave the goblins the names of a lot of companies they should invest into he knew would gain them a hefty income. The goblins though stated that Gringotts was and always will be neutral territory and that they wouldn't get involved into any war physically though should specific information fail to reach certain parties or the income through investments of certain customers suddenly but subtly decline…everyone can make a mistake with investments, can one not?

When Harry and Severus finally left the bank, it was already half past eleven, and they only had an hour and a half left to get all the shopping done. Therefore they instantly walked over to the nearest shop which happened to be Flourish & Blotts. Entering they skimmed the shelves to find the books that were on Harry's list which Slughorn had given him this morning. That was when Harry became aware that someone was watching him. Feigning to read the index of a book he sneakily looked around the part of the shop he could see when his gaze fell on an older man who also had a book in hand and was reading it. Or so it should seem because every so often he stole a glance towards Harry.

Appearing as if he was interested in a book on the shelf next to the man he walked over and again feigned reading. Knowing that the boy spotted him the man didn't even attempt to leave.

"You're good," he suddenly said loud enough so that the man would hear him but not loud enough to attract any unwanted attention.

"I beg your pardon?" the man replied now openly looking at Harry.

"Your surveillance skills…you're not bad, but I have been an Auror, you know before they declared me a Dark Lord and started to hunt me. Believe me, it is hard to go undetected by me," Harry explained when he felt an even more intense and far darker gaze on himself. Reaching out with his magic he barely could stop himself from snickering, there, in a dark corner, stood the Dark Lord himself observing him, and he could even see a faint red glow at the height where his eyes would be. "I have to admit that it was quicker than I anticipated."

"Quick?" the man asked not giving what the boy said prior a second thought for now because he doubted that he would get the answer to any question related to that.

"The attention of the Dark Lord," Harry smirked.

"Why do you think that I'm associated with him? On the contrary, I could be sent by Dumbledore to keep an eye on you," the man replied.

"Highly doubtable. Your close resemblance to two of my classmates tells me that you're a Carrow and from your age, I assume Lord Carrow," here Lord Carrow snickered lowly but nodded nearly invisibly. "I know for a fact that the Carrows would never willingly associate themselves with someone like Dumbledore and the only other person that would have an interest in you stalking me would be the Dark Lord," Harry reasoned. "Since we're already at it you can give him a message from me. If he wants to meet me next Saturday, I'll wait for him at the Leaky Cauldron at one o'clock. But should he think that I'm an easy target…let's just say that _I'm a boy with many talents_ ," he said the last part in parseltongue winking at the shadow he knew the Dark Lord was hiding in even if he couldn't see the man.

With a curt bow of his head and before Lord Carrow could come out of his stupor thanks to him speaking the language of the serpents, he turned around and walked over to where Severus was waiting naturally curious what Lord Carrow wanted from Harry.

Only once the two teenagers were out of the shop having bought everything Harry needed and then some more, Marvolo stepped out of the shadow.

"What do you think of the boy, my Lord?" Enyalius inquired with a respectful nod.

Tom didn't answer but stared at the door the boy just left through, and Enyalius could clearly see what Marvolo was thinking, the boy was a complete conundrum, one his Lord would want to unravel and if he could interpret the fire in Marvolo's eyes correctly, it was a challenge he only too gladly accepted. Being honest, Enyalius had to admit that it had been a very long time since Marvolo had a decent challenge and his eyes had shone in such a way. Enyalius actually couldn't remember that it ever had happened, and he was one of Marvolo's first and oldest friends, he hoped that this unknown boy that had appeared out of nowhere would be able to keep Marvolo on his toes because he certainly needed it.

* * *

Harry and Severus walked down Diagon Alley in silence towards Madam Malkin's robes shop, when Harry abruptly stopped letting Severus also come to a halt and look at him in confusion.

"Please tell me that I imagine things and we didn't just pass a joke shop," Harry said in a near pleading tone.

"Unfortunately, then I would have to lie. Why?" Severus confusion rose especially when Harry's eyes went wide after having turned around towards the shop.

* * *

A/N: I have a feeling that if Death goes on like this poor Severus will be an alcoholic before he's even finished with Hogwarts. 'til next chapter!


	4. Who is Sirius Black?

A/N: *hums an eery tune* I wonder how long it will take for certain people having a mental breakdown.

Oh and I still don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine alone.

Zabuzamaniac: The HP/SS/LV pairing wouldn't be announced in the summary if it wouldn't be in the story

* * *

Chapter 4: Who is Sirius Black?

For a long moment, Harry just stood there staring at the sign above the shop several different emotions flickering over his face, mainly shock and surprise but also hope. Severus observed how once Harry came out of his stupor he darted forwards and into the shop. He followed him in a more sedated but nonetheless brisk pace, entering the shop to see how Harry frantically looked around until he seemed to have found the one he was searching for.

"George," he cried out before he ran up to a young man in the mid-twenties with deep-red hair that could be compared to the colour of blood.

When Harry reached the man, he without further ado wrapped his arms around George's shoulders and hugged him as if he feared the other would vanish should he let go. George though first was wholly stunned but soon laced his arms around Harry returning the hug while snickering lowly.

"Harry, it is so good to see you again," George said.

"George, never ever do that again," Harry now sobbed against the other's shoulder.

George sighed. "Harry, I cannot tell you how sorry I am for what happened, but I cannot, and I will not promise you that I won't do it again because I would always do everything to protect you," George replied starting to cradle his hair.

Harry took a few deep breaths before he leaned back and looked at George directly while whipping his tears away. "I know," he muttered before he continued with a stern glare. "But that doesn't change anything about the fact that I don't want to lose you…again. So, Death…" he began, but someone interrupted him.

"George dear brother o' mine am I imagining things, or did I really hear…," another young man said, who looked for Severus on first glance identical to the other before he rushed forward like Harry did earlier and embraced the teenager in a hug. "Harry!"

"Fred? So, Death brought you both here?!" Harry asked still not able to fully believe it. "Don't worry he knows…well not everything yet but more than enough," he added when he saw how the twins looked at Severus.

"What would I be without my dear brother Forge?" George said mock hurt throwing one arm over Harry's shoulder.

"Well spoke dear brother o' mine and what would I be without you Gred?" Fred nodded wisely mirroring his twins' actions.

"And what would the world be without the infamous Devils of Gryffindor?" they chorused.

The antics of the twins made Harry laugh. "How I have missed you both and your antics," he said still snickering. "Sev, come here," he told Severus, who stood next to a shelf obviously not knowing whether to stay or to leave Harry to this reunion with friends who apparently were from his time. Harry also flicked his hand towards the door locking and sealing it to give them the much-needed privacy. Luckily it was lunchtime, and the children were at Hogwarts, so it was quite calm.

Still not knowing what to think about this entire thing, Severus walked over to where Harry was standing with the twins.

"Sev, this is Fred and George…uhm did you two also change your last name or is your hair colour all that changed?" Harry addressed Fred.

"It is Weathersby now," George chuckled.

Harry's eyes widened. "Wasn't that what Crouch was always calling your stick-in-the-ass brother?" Harry snorted when the twins adopted an innocent face, which he didn't believe for even one second. "Anyway, they are from my time and two of my best friends, you should be careful around them though, especially when they adopt their innocence face."

"Oi, stop telling lies about us," Fred replied with a hurt expression.

Harry snickered. "The only time when you are innocent is when you sleep, and even that is questionable."

"He might have a point there, Forge," George mused.

"Aw, now you destroyed my illusion…nothing will ever be the same," Fred sighed dramatically feigning shock. "What to do? My world is in pieces."

Harry started to laugh at the twin's antics, and even Severus couldn't stop his smirk.

"Ignore my dear brother, he had too much coffee this morning," George snickered earning himself a pout from Fred. "Anyway Harry…did you already meet a certain quartet?" he questioned tentatively.

"If you mean the Marauders then yes I already had the doubtful pleasure of meeting them. I mean I knew that Pettigrew was a snivelling rat and a traitor not to mention that they are no saints but what I witnessed…that is not pranking that is bullying," Harry huffed.

"And to think that they were our idols for the longest part of our life," George muttered but hasted to explain his point when he became aware of Severus' darkening gaze, even as a teenager he could be scary as hell. "We might be pranksters at heart Snape, but we would never stoop so low as to bully someone not to mention that Harry would long have broken with us if we did. No, we actually threw the four out of our shop when we became aware of how they talked about you… _imagine what pranks we could play on Snivellus with these_ …disgusting that's what it is," he shuddered at the thought alone.

That was especially because when the Marauders had said that, they had been standing in front of the fireworks, those certainly were NOT meant for pranks, and Umbridge only had suffered from them because she definitely deserved it but undeniably not Snape and even less this younger one.

It had been a massive blow to them to see what their idols really were like. The twins had their honour as pranksters, and that forbade them to even as much as aid bullies by selling them something from their shop, so the only thing they could do was throwing them out. Sure, Potter instantly went to his father afterwards complaining about it, and the next day Charlus Potter stood in their shop going so far as to threaten them with ruining their business, but that hasn't deterred them from their decision. They didn't know what happened afterwards, but they never heard from them again after that day. Hopefully, they would leave them alone because they didn't doubt that should Harry get to know about it now that he was here he would make them regret even thinking about getting to the twins through their shop.

Severus, on the other hand, looked at the twins his head cocked to the side and eyes narrowed before he nodded slightly obviously having assessed whether the twins were truthful in what they said or not. From what he saw the day prior Harry didn't like the Marauders very much, and he didn't doubt that he would break with the twins would they supply the Marauders so yes, he was inclined to believe them.

"Thank you and please call me Severus," he finally said holding out his hand towards the right twin he thought was called George, they were hard to discern.

"That goes without saying. Any friend of Harry is also our friend," George replied shaking Severus' hand before Fred did the same. "And should you ever need anything…we also accept owl orders."

"That reminds me, when did you arrive? I mean when I look around, you must have been here for several months at least," Harry wondered.

"We arrived shortly before the summer holidays started at Hogwarts this year," George replied. "Death then supplied us with enough money to restart the shop without having to worry about money for at least a few years and yeah the rest is as the saying goes history. It was quite simple really, Death gave us a choice…either going on to the _next great adventure_ or coming here and helping you all the while reigning you in," he now laughed.

Harry looked at him in disbelieve. " _You_ reigning _me_ in? The better question would be who reigns _you_ in," Harry laughed.

"That would be us," suddenly another male voice said coming from where the private and storage area of the shop was.

Harry turned around to see Neville standing in the doorway with Luna draped around him. "Neville! Luna!" he exclaimed, quickly walking over and embracing his best friends in a hug before walking back to where the others were standing watching him. "I really have to thank Death when I see him the next time."

"That will be an interesting meeting," Luna piped in with a dreamy expression.

Harry blinked a few times before he snickered. "Then there is something I can look forward to," he said while looking at his watch. "Oh damned, it is already past twelve, and we have to be back at the Cauldron at one. I'm sorry, but we have to cut this meeting short I surely come by again soon though."

"No problem. Say what house did you end up in?" Neville asked, but Harry only smirked.

"Nev, that was a stupid question," Luna scolded him. "Where else should he go other than with his lovely friend?"

Neville snickered before giving Luna a quick kiss. "You're right my love, this was a stupid question."

"So, you ended up in Slytherin? What Name did you use? I mean Potter certainly is out," George asked.

"Tom Hadrian Eldrid," Harry answered with a smile that spoke of a prank in coming.

Harry and Severus could see how everyone else was thinking about what they just heard when Neville drew a sharp breath.

"Harry!" he exclaimed. "You're insane, the Dark Lord will certainly kill you."

"Oh, I highly doubt that," Luna mused with an expression that told everyone that she knew something that she wouldn't share, not yet anyway.

"I never said that I was sane," Harry laughed not replying to Luna knowing that it would be futile to try and get answers from her, she would tell you what she knew when she thought the time is right. "And I doubt that he will kill me anytime soon, at least this morning he was quite calm and more curious when he stalked me."

"Wait, what?" it was not only Severus who was shocked, but he was the one to speak up having no idea where and when Harry met the Dark Lord since he had been with him the entire morning. "When did the Dark Lord stalk you?"

Harry though looked at him as if that must be clear and from the pinching of his nose Harry could see that Severus just realised where and when.

"In the bookshop, you didn't talk to only Lord Carrow did you?" he asked pensively.

"No, I didn't," Harry chuckled.

"So, you want to become an ally of the Dark Lord?" Neville asked.

Harry sighed before he shrugged. "It is the only way I see to keep the future from playing out a second time. You know that I cannot do it alone or even with your help, we need people and resources, we have neither. Sure, the Peverell vaults are far from empty, but money alone will not win us this war," he explained himself.

"Harry don't worry. We stood with you the last time the world turned against you, and we won't stop now. You think the Dark Lord is the best option for us? Then we stand behind you no matter what, we're not those traitorous backstabbing wannabe friends," Neville told him with passion.

"Thank you," Harry said with a warm smile, it was a great relief that his friend would stay with him. "However, we have to go now if I want to get new robes and a wand."

"Indeed," Severus simply stated having stayed silent most of the time carefully observing the interactions.

"Very well, twins I hope you don't level anything to the ground while I'm not with you," he snickered.

"As if we would do that," Fred conceded. "Do you need anything before you return to Hogwarts?"

Harry hummed lowly stroking his chin. "No or wait yes…do you have some of your Improved Darkness Powder?" he finally asked.

"How many times do we have to tell you that it is Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder?" George laughed. "But yes, we have some for you, free of charge as always."

Severus observed how George walked over to a bowl which contained a black powder that shimmered in different other colours depending on how the light fell on it, wondering what it was and how it was used but if Harry took some with him he didn't doubt that he would see it in action sometime soon. George quickly filled some of the powder into a paper bag before sealing it close and giving it to Harry who placed it in the bag with his books.

"Thank you, I'll make good use of it, but we really have to leave now," he said with a smile. "I'll certainly stay in touch."

"You better do, or we might come storming Hogwarts," the twins joked.

"And be careful with the Dark Lord, we don't want to have to come and save you," Neville added.

"Don't forget to send us the memories of your encounters with the idiots," Fred piped in.

"I will," Harry's smile softened. "Thank you…for everything."

Harry hugged everyone before he turned to Severus and motioned him that they would leave. With a flick of his hand, he dispelled the wards he had placed on the door before stepping through and out into the alley with the last wave towards his friends. He continuously wondered just how lucky he was that he not only ended up with the man, well now a teenager, he loved but with his best friends as well, his real friends.

They both walked silently next to each other on their way to Ollivander's. Harry didn't know why but he could feel that something changed in Severus' behaviour. Ever since their visit to Gringotts and especially now after their meeting with the others, he seemed to be more closed off and distant than this morning.

When Harry had enough of Severus' antics, he stopped and turned towards the other teenager looking at him inquiringly.

"What the heck is wrong?" he asked straight to the point having no wish to dance around the bush at the moment.

"Nothing," was the prompt and short answer from Severus but Harry instantly knew that it was a lie.

Harry's gaze hardened. "Do not lie to me, Severus," he said pronouncing every word. When he hated something, it was being lied to, and after having been lied to ones too often, it was no wonder that he despised lies. "Something is bothering you, and I want to know what."

Severus didn't answer though, he only looked Harry straight into the eyes. Harry fed up grabbed Severus' right arm and dragged him into the next small side alley before pushing him against the wall leaning over him his hands placed on either side of the other teenager's head. Fortunately, he wasn't that much shorter than Severus. Severus stared at him in surprise.

"Severus, seriously what is the problem?" Harry pressed him on in a worried tone. "Ever since we stepped out of Gringotts you seem to have distanced yourself not to mention since we left the joke shop."

Severus looked at Harry and first just wanted to refuse to answer but then he saw it in Harry's eyes, hurt and even a little bit of fear, it was well hidden, but it was there. He didn't know what to think about it, so he decided that it was time to get a few answers.

"What do you want from me?" he asked in the end.

"I beg your pardon?" Harry was confused, what did Severus mean?

"What do you want from me?" he asked again much to Harry's increased confusion, but this time he elaborated his question. "I mean you're richer than the ten richest pure-bloods together, you have your friends with you, and obviously you're the most powerful wizard alive not to mention Death's best friend so what do you want from me? I'm no one compared to you…is this some sick game you're playing? Because if it is, I can tell you that I won't play along."

Harry looked at him not getting what the other teenager wanted from him, but the longer he thought about it, the more it dawned on him. Severus was much like him in more regards than he would have thought probably thanks to his father and not a small part thanks to his own father James Potter, being bullied at every turn. Possibly having been told that he was a freak or an abomination only because of something he had no control over – magic – that he was worth less than the dirt under his father's nails, maybe even beaten, no wonder he was second-guessing his motives.

Taking a deep breath, Harry let his head sink against Severus' shoulder. That was indeed not how he thought things would go, he hoped that he had time, could do things slowly as not to overwhelm Severus and scare him away but now he had only two options. One, he waited with telling Severus as he originally planned and inevitably lose him here and now, or second, he told him now and probably lose him too, but then at least he could say that he tried.

Harry swallowed, making his decision before he took all his courage, looked up and started to speak. "Severus, I'm not playing any games with you…never with you," he told him, but when he saw that Severus wanted to speak up, he placed a finger over the other teenager's lips. "Please let me finish."

Severus only nodded upon which Harry smiled thankfully.

"What you have to know is that in my entire life there was ever only one person I truly loved," he could feel how Severus tensed beneath him. "That is you," here Harry looked at Severus trying to gauge his reaction, but it seemed that Severus could only stare at him, so he continued. "I have to admit that in my first school years I hated you quite a lot for how you treated me, but I think it must have been in my fifth year where everything changed, I began to see the reason for why you behaved like you did and I started to respect you…revere you even. When my feelings turned to love I don't know but the one thing I knew was that you'd never reciprocate my feelings…hell you were double my age and my Professor. However, that didn't stop my feelings towards you.

"Then there was the battle of Hogwarts, and everything went to hell in a handbasket. Because of Dumbledore's scheming Voldemort called you to the Shrieking Shack and long story short his familiar Nagini bit you, poison you. I arrived shortly after he left and found you," Harry's head now again rested against Severus' shoulder tears starting to flow down his face, the dam indeed had broken, and he doubted that he could stop now even if he wanted to.

He took a few deep breaths to compose himself before he continued, his pain clearly audible. "You died in my arms and…and my entire world died with you," he chuckled, but it was hollow. "The thing is…was that Dumbledore expected me to willingly step in front of Voldemort's Killing Curse so that the Dark Lord could be defeated, and I did. Not because of those muggle loving idiots or because it would save the wizarding world, no for all I cared they could go to hell…well most of them. No, why I, in the end, stepped in front of the Killing Curse was because of you. I wanted to die, wanted to die in the hope of being reunited with you even if it was only as friends…I didn't care, as long as I would be with you, I would be happy.

"But heaven forbid that I would be happy, I couldn't even die properly. I was so frustrated and angry about it, I doubt the Dark Lord expected that kind of fury when I battled and consequently defeated him. However, once the Dark Lord was no more and my anger abated, I felt hollow, without you in it my life was empty. Sure, I got the job everyone expected me to, married the woman everyone expected me to and even fathered the children everyone expected me to. Then they started all this shit with the muggles and that we should reconnect," Harry snorted.

"That was when my anger returned full force. They knew exactly what I went through with my relatives, not to mention about the Dark Lord or you but no they didn't want to see that muggles knowing about magic were a bad thing, that nine times out of ten it would end in fear, hate, and envy. Because of my vocal objection against telling the muggles about magic I was quickly declared the new Dark Lord and shortly later I was on the run with nowhere to go.

"One and a half year…that was how long I survived," he snickered. "It is astonishing but even without anything in my life, no purpose and no reason to live I still didn't want to give in, didn't want to give them an easy victory. However, in the end, they caught up with me, and it was my own wife who killed me but not because I was a Dark Lord. Oh no, her last words to me were _now finally the entire Potter fortune belongs to me as it always should have been the case_."

"So that was what you meant when we first met," Severus muttered finally understanding Harry. It hadn't been as he assumed because she had the audacity to kill him, well try to, but because of her last words. He wondered how Harry could have married such a money-grubbing bint, but it probably was as he said expected of him. Had Severus thought that his life was hard, he had to concede that Harry's was ten times worse.

"Yes, our first meeting…when I saw you lying on me…alive and well…I thought that I was finally granted my deepest wish. Then I became aware of the fact that I still wasn't dead," here Harry genuinely laughed lowly. "It was even better than I imagined how it would be even with those idiots watching us. I still can't fully believe that all this is happening and I'm thanking Death every second that he gave me this second chance," Harry smiled wistfully.

"Anyway, I know that you don't feel the same way as I do Severus and probably never will but please if nothing else stay my friend…please…," again tears welled in Harry's eyes falling down nearly missing Severus' robe and hitting the pavement. "I don't want to lose you…not again…not again."

Severus just stood there barely comprehending what Harry just told him, Harry loved him! HIM! The one whose only friend was Lily and whom everyone else only talked to because of his abilities in potions and duelling wanting to take advantage of it. That was the only thing that circled Severus' mind for several long minutes when he became aware that Harry tensed more and more in front of him obviously thinking that his continued silence meant that he would reject him, that he didn't even want to be his friend anymore despite what he had asked of him the day prior.

That wouldn't do, not at all.

With a swift movement, which was even easier since he caught Harry by surprise, he reversed their positions before without giving Harry any time to realise what happened he kissed him. It wasn't a gentle kiss though but a rough and dominating one because Severus put every feeling he had towards the other teenager into it wanting to show him that he was far from rejecting him and making sure that the message stuck. He had no idea when, why or how it had happened especially since he knew Harry for all of one day now, but he had fallen headlong for him. Twenty-four hours that had changed everything for him, twenty-four hours that turned his entire world upside down, both positively and negatively.

Only the need for breath let Severus pull away from Harry again.

"Are you sure that this is what you want because I'll tell you now that I'm extremely possessive," he asked Harry his voice a sinful whisper, looking him straight into the eyes.

Harry who was breathing heavily chuckled. "And I wouldn't want it any other way," he replied with a lopsided grin before grabbing Severus' hair with his left hand and pulling him into another kiss while he placed his other arm around the teen's midsection pulling him closer.

Severus let him continue for only a few moments before starting to place kisses along Harry's jaw and down the side of his neck while putting a knee between his legs to keep him upright. Hadn't his words convinced him that Harry wanted him then the growing hardness he could feel against his thigh certainly did. Nibbling at a spot right beneath Harry's ear he could hear him moan in pleasure.

"Severus, we're in the middle of a bloody side alley of Diagon Alley," he muttered before another wanton moan tore itself from his mouth when he could feel Severus' breath against his ear.

"An astute observation and now hush," Severus whispered biting him firmer but not enough that it would hurt.

After licking the spot where he just bit Harry, he started to suck at it. Once he was sure that a nice little hickey would form itself showing everyone that Harry was already claimed, he returned his attention towards Harry's mouth though this time he kissed him more tenderly. Poking his tongue out Harry instantly granted him entrance and after a quick battle of their tongues, Severus subdued him. Only the need for breathing hindered him from continuing exploring Harry's mouth.

In the meantime, his hand wandered beneath Harry's shirt roaming over the firm muscles with feather light touches mapping out every inch.

When Harry felt the light touches on his stomach, he couldn't help but twitch in pleasure. Something in the back of his mind tried to tell him that there was something important they had to do but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was not to mention form any coherent thought. Groaning he arched against Severus to get some friction when the other teen started to twist and pinch his nipple until it was hard sending more waves of pleasure through Harry mixed with sweat pain.

"Severus," he moaned.

"Look at me," Severus commanded and all the while his hand wandered down Harry's side until it reached the waistband where he trailed with soft feathery touches towards the front and the button of Harry's trousers.

Harry did as Severus asked him, looking him straight into the eyes with a clouded in pleasure gaze which widened when Severus swiftly undid the button and entered his trousers with his hand. Mere seconds later Harry drew a sharp breath when Severus' hand encompassed his already hard and leaking cock stroking along its entire length. Combined with the friction the fabric caused it brought the pleasure he was feeling to new heights and Harry doubted that he would last much longer especially since Severus' other hand that up until then had rested on his hip continued where his other had left moments ago.

Severus who saw Harry's little problem kissed him swiftly before he leaned against him so that his mouth was mere inches away from his ear.

"Come for me!" he whispered seductively before he leaned back again to be able to observe Harry and Harry came after a few more, firm strokes along his cock. His expression was one of utter bliss while he rode out his orgasm.

Just seeing Harry coming and slumping against the wall he had him pinned against in complete contentment sent Severus over the edge as well and it was only his iron-clad will that stopped them both from hitting the floor because their legs gave out.

It took them both a few minutes to regain their bearings. Harry had to admit that even should he die here and now he would regret nothing, all the waiting and pain he had to endure in the end paid out so that he could feel like that even if it would be a one-time thing which he dearly hoped was not the case.

"Thank you, Sev," he whispered glowing in happiness.

Severus gave him a quick peck on the lips with a smirk. "Come we have to finish our shopping and only have half an hour left to do it," he said while flicking his wand to remove the mess they made.

Harry snickered while he righted and composed himself, only Severus would be able to go form pleasure to business in mere moments, but he didn't care, he was on cloud nine, and he doubted that anything would be able to sour his mood at the moment. Stealing a kiss from Severus, which he only too gladly returned, Harry ambled towards the entrance of the side alley cancelling the notice-me-not charm and silencing spell Severus at some point must have erected which he was glad for because he had been too distracted to think about doing it himself.

"How about you go and fetch my potions supplies while I get my wand? I know you want to go to the apothecary and that way we save time," he asked over his shoulder, stopping and turning around at the entrance to wait for Severus.

Watching him straighten out his robes and bringing his hair back into a semblance of order, Harry could only again think about how lucky he was and silently thank Death for bringing him here. Though he still had no idea to why the entity had done it, Death usually wasn't someone who gave things without an ulterior motive. For now, though he didn't want to think about it and just enjoy what he had.

"True," Severus answered once he was sure that he looked presentable and walked over to where Harry was waiting. "But how am I supposed to pay for your supplies? You didn't take any money from Gringotts."

Instead of an answer Harry grabbed into his bag and pulled his Gringotts card out before holding it out towards Severus who looked at him as if he went crazy because he willingly handed his card over.

"Oh, and should you want something for yourself you can also put it on the card," Harry added with a smile before he turned around and walked over with a spring in his step.

Severus could only stare after him shaking his head. Harry truly was crazy for handing out his card willingly and would he be anyone else he would probably abuse this circumstance but considering that he wanted to do far more to Harry than simply pleasuring him not to mention doing it more than ones…let's just say it would be counterproductive would he abuse Harry's trust. Shaking his head over his thoughts while snickering he also set into motion and went to buy Harry's potions supply as well as restock his own.

* * *

Harry stepped into Ollivander's shop and was greeted by the same sight that had greeted him the first time he had entered the shop to buy his first wand. True to what he told Dumbledore it had been destroyed but not during the Death Eater's attack on his _parents_ but at the beginning of his time on the run. After that he had used the elder wand but as he said to Severus this wasn't an option because Dumbledore surely would recognise it. That made him wonder if he had the Elder Wand what wand had Dumbledore. However, that was something for later musing, but now he had to get a new wand.

When he stepped in front of the counter like the last time, Ollivander stepped out from between the long shelves though what surprised Harry was how much younger he looked. His hair wasn't silver-white but Auburn, and he had far fewer wrinkles than he could remember.

"Ah, and here I would have thought that you already have a wand, Mr. …" Ollivander greeted him in his usual mystic way.

"Eldrid Sir," Harry replied. "And my wand, unfortunately, was destroyed hence why I need a new one."

"Mr Eldrid," Ollivander chuckled. "There's a thing with names, some are lost through time while others are hidden from open view, and then there are those that shroud the bearer in mystery. Though Mr Eldrid, I doubt that there is anything that would be able to destroy your wand."

"Is that so?" Harry questioned wondering just how much Ollivander knew about him and his right wand.

Ollivander on the other hand just chuckled again. "Don't worry young Master of Death, your secret is safe with me. To your wand, I think I know just the right one."

With that Ollivander vanished between the shelves leaving a stunned Harry standing at the counter. A few moments later he re-emerged carrying a box with him opening it and picking up the wand within before holding it out towards Harry.

"Holly with a phoenix feather core and eleven inches long, nice and supple. I think you already know about its other…character," he told Harry.

Harry carefully took it and instantly felt the powerful rush that came with connecting with one's wand for the first time. Sure, it wasn't as powerful as the Elder Wand, but it was quite powerful on its own nonetheless.

"Brother of the Dark Lord's wand," Harry added with a smile. "I appreciate your secrecy. Additional I'll take two holsters, one for the wrist and one for the calf, Common Welsh Green if you have."

"Of course," Ollivander ducked behind his counter coming up with the two requested holsters.

With a few quick, precise movements, he fitted them to Harry's wrist and left ankle. The Elder Wand instantly went into the calf holster while his Holly Wand went into the wrist holster for quick access.

"Thank you, how much does it cost?" Harry asked digging in his pouch to get his reserve money since Severus had his card.

"That will make twenty galleons," Ollivander replied.

Harry nodded and counted the money handing it to Ollivander.

"Have a nice day, and I expect great things from you," Ollivander said in farewell.

"So, no pressure at all," Harry laughed before he remembered something. "You might want to upgrade your wards and…maybe a personal portkey to get to safety, one doesn't know who might come knocking these days."

The last time it had been Voldemort who kidnapped Ollivander in a bid to learn more about the Elder Wand though they were able to rescue him. While Harry doubted that the Dark Lord would do it again this time he didn't put it beneath Dumbledore to try something should he get to know who just bought Tom's twin wand.

"I'll heed your warning," Ollivander smiled.

Harry nodded and waved goodbye before he stepped out of the shop and back into the alley. Looking left and right he didn't see Severus anywhere and therefore thought that he was still at the apothecary. With a quick glance on his watch he saw that his entire visit at Ollivander's took ten minutes, so they only had twenty minutes left for clothes and a trunk. Harry sighed doubting that they would manage to get those things within the given time.

Just when Harry wanted to enter the apothecary Severus stepped out though he couldn't see any bags, so everything probably had been shrunk.

"Hey, did you get everything?" Harry questioned receiving a curt nod. "Also, everything you wanted?"

Severus blushed slightly upon the question but nodded again handing Harry his card back.

"So, clothes next," Harry said a bit less enthusiastic, he hated getting measured, but it was necessary, he couldn't run around in the clothes he currently wore forever.

Thankfully Madame Malkin's was right next to the apothecary, so they didn't have to waste precious time walking there. They both entered looking around, and it didn't take long before one of the shop assistance came over to them.

"Hello and welcome at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. How may I be of assistance?" the woman asked.

"Hi, I need an entirely new wardrobe," Harry told her. "Including undergarment, winter clothes, school robes, and everyday clothes…simply everything."

The assistant looked at him with wide eyes, it wasn't every day that someone ordered an entire wardrobe. "This will take some time, but if you don't want to wait, we also can owl deliver it to you. It shouldn't take longer than this evening to be delivered," she explained gesturing towards a stool to measure him.

Harry nodded. "That will be okay though one set of normal clothes I'll need now," he said.

"Very well, but first I need to measure you," she picked up the measuring tape which instantly began to whirl around Harry while the woman wrote down everything. "Good, now that I have your measures you perhaps want to take a look around for what you want. May I also ask what colour your clothes shall have?"

Humming lowly Harry started to wander around to see what was offered. "I'm in Slytherin so I think mainly dark green, dark blue and black, perhaps also a few deep red shirts and white ones, nothing gaudy," he told her while picking up a shirt in emerald green and black trousers.

That was when he came across something. Waving the shop assistant, he whispered something to her with a smile that bordered on evil. She looked at Severus before she nodded, picking up a few things she walked over to said teenager and led him to one of the stools, standing him on top of it before she started to fit the clothes Harry had picked for him.

Severus though was utterly unimpressed by it, not that he put up much of a fight when the woman led him to the stool. "What is this supposed to mean?" he asked Harry.

"Come on, stop complaining and wait until she is done," Harry answered walking over with the clothes he picked for himself for now.

It didn't take the assistant much time, and when she stepped away from Severus and Harry got a good look upon him, he swallowed hard. Instead of some standard black robe, he now wore an anthracite grey shirt, formfitting black leather trousers that widened towards the lower end and over it black sleeveless robes that went until short over his knees. Completed was the outfit with a pair of black dragon hide boots. In Harry's opinion, Severus looked absolutely stunning.

"Harry, I'm certainly not…" Severus started to complain but was instantly silenced when Harry levitated a mirror that stood in a corner in front of him, the only thing that Severus could do was stare. "I…" he didn't know what to say, stepping from the stool he walked to the mirror to take a closer look.

Snickering lowly Harry pulled off the ribbon with which he bound his hair, and with a flick of his hand, he duplicated it. Once he finished tying his own hair again, he stepped closely behind Severus letting him feel just what exactly his looks were doing to him before he pulled the other teen's hair back and bound them with the duplicated ribbon.

"You look utterly stunning, the pure-bloods surely will envy you," Harry snickered next to Severus' ear.

Severus sighed. "Harry, I don't have the money to pay for any of this," he said while turning around.

"And who said that you'd be paying for anything," Harry laughed in reply turning around towards the assistant. "I'll take this."

The next few minutes were spent with fitting Harry. In the end, he wore an emerald green shirt with black trousers and a three-quarter sleeve robe. All the while Severus tried to talk Harry out of buying him the clothes he still wore, but it was to no avail.

"Severus, you claim to be possessive, and I claim to want to treat you to something nice from time to time and now stop complaining, it isn't as if I don't have the money after all," Harry exclaimed exasperatedly earning a snicker from the assistant.

Severus muttered under his breath for good measurement, but in the end, he gave in not even changing out of his new clothes, being honest with himself he had to admit that he liked them very much, but he would never tell Harry that or he might get ideas.

Harry paid for his and Severus' clothes registering his card with the shop in case he needed some more clothes and that way they could charge it directly without him having to come to the shop. So now they were standing in Diagon Alley again with only five minutes to spare.

"I still need a trunk and writing equipment but if you're willing to lend me a quill, ink and some parchment I should be able to get the missing things next week before my meeting with the Dark Lord," he muttered so that only Severus would be able to hear him. The trunk wasn't overly important right now since his new wardrobe would go straight into the dresser at Hogwarts, the books and other school supplies into the shelf and he didn't have anything else yet. So no, a trunk wasn't a high priority at the moment.

"What about toiletries?" Severus questioned.

Harry winced, that certainly was something he would need, and he doubted that should he owl order them that they would arrive today.

"Okay, I suggest you go back to the Leaky Cauldron and tell Slughorn that I'll hurry and join you as soon as possible," there was nothing to be done but he needed those things and if that meant getting into trouble with their head of house so mote it be.

Severus nodded and turned to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron while Harry hurried to get the necessary toiletry articles. It was fifteen minutes later that he joined Severus and Slughorn who wasn't impressed.

"I thought I made myself clear when I said one o'clock sharp," he said with a stern glare.

"I have to apologise but when we met old friends of mine whom I haven't seen for years… after my parents just died it was so good to see someone I knew…I'm truly sorry for making you worry and wait," Harry said in a low voice.

Slughorn looked at him for a moment before he took a deep breath. "Don't worry Tom, no damage has been done. You at least had the foresight to send Severus to inform me, and you didn't take long after all," Slughorn told him with an encouraging smile. "But next time try to adhere to agreements."

Harry smiled weakly but nodded.

"Good, then let's return to the castle," he now was back to his lively self, grabbing them both at their shoulder and apparating them back to Hogwarts. "Now, I think you know the way back, and I wish you both a nice rest of the day."

Harry and Severus watched their professor walking up the way towards Hogwarts and out of their sight.

"You have him completely wrapped around your finger," Severus chuckled.

"Well he always had a soft spot for orphaned Slytherins who are also quite powerful," Harry retorted. "Knowing him as I do certainly helps too."

"True," Severus conceded.

They both set into motion and walked back towards the castle not talking with each other and simply enjoying their company. That was until they reached the entrance doors of the castle. Unfortunately to the side but with excellent view on the portal sat a quartet Harry definitely didn't want to be confronted with at the moment, not after the good morning he just had.

"Ah, those evil snakes again," Potter snarled standing up and rushing over to where Harry and Severus just passed along eying both and their new clothes unfavourably.

Harry stopped and rose an eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be an insult?" he eyed the other critically.

"You can be damned sure that it was one, Tommy-boy," James now laughed.

"Ah so a battle of insults…let's see…Gryffindors are encephalonless Homo sapiens sapiens with the mental capacity of a protozoon. What do you think Severus? I think it is an adequate description," he snickered upon the expressions of utter confusion on James, Sirius and Peter's face, only Remus seemed to have at least a halfway decent idea of what he just said.

"If I have swallowed a dictionary you at least swallowed a medical encyclopaedia," Severus shook his head. "However adequate the description, I doubt that encephalonless is a proper word."

"Have been in the care of a healer once too often and got bored…and what? Severus Snape doesn't know the word? Then it is officially not a word," Harry exclaimed in mock shock. "But going with that logic…you now know the word so as of now it must be a word."

"You cannot just declare encephalonless being a word, what is it supposed to mean anyway?"

He had a hard time to keep the smirk from his face especially with the looks the marauders were sporting it was utterly hilarious. Severus would never have thought it is so easy and satisfying to get back at them in a way no one could get them into trouble for though up to now he missed the partner to pull it off, considering that it is James' own son helping him made it even sweeter.

"Without an encephalon," Harry retorted in a tone that told everyone that he thought it to be clear. "And you'll see, I'll declare it a word. I Tom Hadrian Eldrid hereby declare encephalonless a word," he proclaimed loud enough for everyone in their vicinity to hear him attracting quite some attention with it. "See? Now it is a word."

"I think that everyone else just declared _you_ insane," Severus couldn't stop himself from chuckling anymore.

Harry stepped in front of Severus and looked at him with a severe expression placing his hands on the other boy's shoulders. "My dear Severus, I never stated otherwise," he told him in a solemn voice before turning back around towards the Marauders with a big grin. "What would you say? Am I insane or not?"

Now James looked at him dumbfounded. "Are you serious?"

Harry thought this question through for a moment when an idea occurred to him, and his grin even broadened. Pulling out his new wand, he tapped his head muttering under his breath. The four people in front of him drew a sharp breath while Severus next to him groaned.

"You didn't just do that, did you?" Severus asked incredulously.

Harry looked at him and winked before he turned his attention back to the others of whom one just went enrage.

"You! Take that glamour down now!" Sirius roared his head a bright red.

"Why? He asked me whether I'm Sirius and now I look like Sirius, so I have to be Sirius, have I not?" Harry asked innocently even mimicking Sirius' voice.

"No, you're not Sirius because I'm Sirius," Sirius snarled.

"As if…I am Sirius," Harry calmly replied.

"Wha…I am Sirius, you slimy snake!" Sirius' head grew redder if that was even possible.

"Do you need glasses? I am Sirius!" Harry exclaimed strongly now.

"I don't need glasses I see very well, and I AM SIRIUS!" the other boy shouted over the entire place attracting even more attention to them.

From the corner of his eyes, Harry could see how Remus covered his face with his hands obviously knowing what was to come.

"Listen, you're Sirius Black, and that's that," Harry declared in a calm tone having to bring up his entire willpower not to cackle maniacally in anticipation.

"NO! YOU ARE SIRIUS ORION BLACK AND NOW STOP THAT!" after that last exclamation silence fell over everyone only interrupted by Severus' massive coughing fit.

"Thank you. Finally, you see reason," Harry said with a curt bowing of his head. "James, now that this idiot acknowledged that I'm Sirius Black and not him why don't we go and find us some hot girls?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

James went as red as a tomato in embarrassment upon that insinuation. "I…" he started to splutter not knowing what to say to that.

Everyone around them, which were a lot of the students by now because they got attracted by their quarrel, looked at him as if he lost it. That was until a stern voice rang over them parting the students as Moses did with the Red Sea.

"May someone please be so gracious and explain what is happening here?" McGonagall asked closely followed by Lily who obviously informed the professor about the confrontation probably thinking that it might escalate.

Harry, on the other hand, didn't want to give up his fun so early, so he grabbed into the paper bag the twins supplied him with and quickly threw the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder into the air causing a thick black cloud covering everything preventing everyone from seeing what was going on. Once Harry was in place, he, unseen by the students and the Professor, flicked his hand to banish the black cloud.

The students, whispering to each other about what happened, wondering whether the cloud was harmful or not, looked back to where Harry stood just moments ago only to see that he was gone. Well, that wasn't true, now there stood two Sirius Blacks right next to each other, and no one knew who was who.

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A/N: Yeah who is who? Hope you liked it. 'til next chapter!


	5. Suspicious Much?

A/N: Sorry for making you wait for so long but ever since the beginning of the year I have a new job and it threw me a bit off writing because I have far less time for it. However, I want to get back into it regularly again and so I now try to publish one chapter for one of the stories per month. So hopefully this'll mean a sooner update for this story too ^^

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Chapter 5: Suspicious Much?

 _The students, whispering to each other about what happened, wondering whether the cloud was harmful or not, looked back to where Harry stood just moments ago only to see that he was gone. Well, that wasn't true, now there stood two Sirius Blacks right next to each other and no one knew who was who._

Everyone was stunned silent but soon whispered conversations broke out all over the place, students wondering who of the two the real Sirius Black was and who in fact Harry. Even James, Remus and Pettigrew looked confused, not able to tell them apart. Though with Pettigrew it was questionable whether it was because they looked too alike or his lower intelligence.

"Hey, I told you to take that glamour down!" the first Sirius exclaimed heatedly. "I don't want one of you slimy snakes to impersonate me."

"Hah! I impersonating you? It is you who the imposter is," the second Sirius retorted while drawing his wand. "Wait until my _mother_ learns of this, she'll flail you alive!"

James and Remus both sighed in relief because the wand was definitely Sirius' wand and therefore this one had to be the real one. Though what surprised them was that Sirius brought up his mother because they very well knew of the strained relationship between the two.

Unfortunately, the relief only lasted until the first Sirius upon that threat also drew his wand and pointed it at the second one. Both wands also looked the same. Could that mean that the second Sirius was the imposter since he was the one mentioning Walburga?

"Er Remus, do you know who the real Sirius is?" James asked his friend, still unsure and in the hope that his wolfish side could distinguish the two.

Remus however, looked utterly baffled. "No, I do not," he muttered. "How is this possible?"

The only smell he found in-between all the other students was Sirius', that new boy's one was nowhere to be smelled, how curious.

James, on the other hand, looked at Remus shocked. Never before had his friend not been able not to identify someone by his or her smell, it was impossible. Especially considering that Sirius was one of his oldest friends.

In the meantime, the quarrel between the two Sirius continued.

"What dark magic did you use to let your wand look like mine?" the first Sirius roared. "Besides I doubt that _Walburga_ will lift a finger after I left this summer."

The second Sirius looked shocked.

"Gentleman, please calm down. A simple _Finite Incantatem_ will solve this," McGonagall spoke up before waving her wand over the first Sirius.

However, when she cast the reversal spell nothing happened which made this Sirius look smug while the other grew more enraged.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" he roared.

What shocked everyone though was that, when Professor McGonagall cast the spell over the second Sirius, it looked as if an illusion spell was cancelled but who emerged from it was not Tom Hadrian Eldrid but some random blond Hufflepuff girl much to said girl's indignation.

Everyone stared at the two in utter disbelieve, not knowing what to think anymore. If neither was Eldrid then where was the boy? Not to mention who was that Hufflepuff girl?

The only one who was highly amused by the entire thing, not that he outwardly showed it, was Severus. If he thought that the verbal sparring with the Marauders made his day, this topped everything. He had no idea how Harry had managed to pull that stunt over them and _got away_ with it, but he had to give it to the boy, he was brilliant.

In the meantime, the Hufflepuff girl frantically tried to convince both James and McGonagall that she, in fact, was Sirius Black and not that imposter, who currently stood next to James.

Sirius sighed. "I think I know a fast way to prove that I am Sirius Black once and for all," he finally growled before turning to James and whispering something in his ear.

James' eyes widened when he heard what Sirius said. "He is Sirius Black of that I'm certain," he told McGonagall with conviction after a few seconds in which he stared straight into Sirius' eyes.

McGonagall also took a few seconds to watch James but, in the end, she nodded.

"Very well Mr Potter, I trust your judgement in that matter," she replied before turning towards the girl whom she still didn't know the name of.

"Come on James, let's get out of here. I have enough of it," Sirius told his friend who nodded.

"You're right, this is getting annoying. Remus are you coming?" the young man asked his other friend completely forgetting about Pettigrew though those who knew them knew that it was a common occurrence. They only kept up with Pettigrew because of the secrets the rat knew.

"Sorry, I'm staying. I don't know but something's going on, and I want to know what," the werewolf replied, shaking his head.

Something was buggering him about the new boy, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was, and so he was adamant to learn as much about him as possible.

James shrugged. "Suit yourself. You can find us in the common room."

With that James and Sirius set into motion to walk back to Gryffindor common room.

"This Eldrid…who does he think he is? Glamouring himself to look like me…pretending to be me…," Sirius growled once they were out of earshot of the masses of students that this entire thing had attracted. "Not to mention bringing my _mother_ into this, the entire school will know by dinner."

That, in turn, incensed James who launched into a rant about that other boy. He raged over how Eldrid must be evil just because he was a Slytherin and complained about the audacity that he had shown today by getting one over them. During their walk back to the tower, James was so immersed in his complaining that he didn't realise how Sirius fell behind him before he, after one corner, vanished completely. Only once he stood in front of the painting of the Fat Lady James saw that he was alone. Confused, he waited a few moments, thinking that at one point Sirius needed to get to the loo, but he hadn't realised because he was so focused. It took him ten minutes of waiting to admit that something was wrong.

* * *

Sirius vanished behind a tapestry, and a broad grin bloomed on his face. With a wave of his hand, he cancelled the glamour charm and returned to his usual self, Tom Hadrian Eldrid. He chuckled lowly while he quickly made his way back to the courtyard but not without taking a detour to the nearest bathroom to wash his hands.

Not five minutes later, he stepped up to Severus who seemingly had a tough time to suppress his amusement.

"I have to admit that this was brilliant," Severus muttered low enough so that only Harry could hear him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry replied with an innocent face.

Severus suppressed a snort. "Sure, you don't," he said before turning back to the spectacle in front of him.

While Harry had left with James, the glamour on the Hufflepuff girl had faded and revealed the real Sirius Black. He was currently trying to explain to a very shocked and confused McGonagall that it was as he told them for a solid half an hour now, that he indeed was Sirius Black and not the boy that had left with his best friend.

Everyone else was equally confused and wondering what was going on. That was when Sirius – the real one this time – spotted Harry standing next to Severus.

"YOU!" he roared trying to lunge at Harry but was held back by McGonagall clearing her throat as well as Remus' firm grip on his arm. "What did you do to James?" he demanded to know.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry returned confused. "I have been here the entire time except for the five minutes when I was searching for a bathroom."

"I can second that," Severus added to the growing frustration of Sirius. "He was here the entire time."

Technically that was not a lie because Harry _had_ been there the entire time though what wasn't said as _whom_ he had been there. Since he had made a detour to the bathroom that wasn't a lie either. This was quickly confirmed by another Slytherin, who had been drawn to the quarrel. Supporting the own house was the first and primary rule of the House of Slytherin as long as someone didn't blatantly break a rule they would look the other way or give you an alibi and getting one over the Marauders…well what better incentive to support someone.

Sirius just wanted to tell them that it was no wonder that Snivellus and that other snake supported someone of their own house, when surprisingly a Hufflepuff also spoke up, even if timidly, saying that he also saw Harry being there the entire time. Soon more and more supported that statement.

Harry though had a very hard time to suppress the glee and hilarity he felt. This was a prime example of the power of the masses. If one person told you that the sky was green and not blue, you'd probably call him insane, but if ten completely unrelated people said to you that, you'd begin to wonder whether they might be right or not and, in the end, you'd believe it too. So, if three different people said that yes Harry had been there the entire time and you didn't know for sure yourself, who'd you be to contradict them?

Sirius looked around him in shock when more and more people said the same thing. How could that be? They all had seen how that Eldrid boy had applied the glamour on himself to look like him, hadn't they? Sure, some might have arrived later but surely not so many and surely those who _had_ witnessed everything wouldn't also support Eldrid's version of things, would they? What he didn't put into consideration or didn't know was how convincing the masses could be not to mention the selective perception and cognitive bias of a person. People see what they want to see and that might not always be what really happened.

"Mr Black, I don't know what transpired here, but it seems that you're under some misconception," McGonagall scolded him. "And five points from Gryffindor for calling another student names!"

Sirius was shell-shocked over this development, so much that he wasn't even able to complain about the deducted point. It seemed that this Eldrid boy had played everyone so effortlessly that no one as much as suspected him of having done anything wrong. This was a whole new experience for him, having been bested without realising it and without being able to retaliate…at least not right away.

Right at that moment, James came running back with a confused frown.

"Sirius, why did you return here?" he asked, his frown deepening.

"I never left," Sirius retorted heatedly.

This was another thing. Eldrid was so good and knew enough about them to be able to successfully impersonate one of them and dupe James so that his friend wasn't able to tell the difference between his real friend and Eldrid in disguise. How he learned so much about them in such a short amount of time without anyone knowing him was everyone's guess.

James first looked confused though soon realisation dawned on him and he turned to Eldrid in rage. However, he didn't get far when Remus place a hand on his shoulder.

"James, stop! I don't know what it is, but something is off about him, and I don't think it a good idea to antagonise him any further, at least for the moment," he told his friend, who looked at him in disbelieve.

"Remus, he impersonated Sirius…he _knows_ things," he exclaimed.

"And that is why we should stop and think about it! The risk of him revealing what he knows is too high," Remus urged, he feared what might happen if Eldrid revealed his… _furry little problem_.

James' eyes widened in shock when he realised the ramifications of what might happen, and he nodded slowly.

"Good. Professor, I have to apologise for what transpired here," he told their Head of House. "Come, we're leaving."

With that, Remus dragged James and a still shocked Sirius towards Gryffindor tower. Peter, who had tried to fade into the background – quite successfully at that – scuttled after them.

When they were out of sight, Harry turned towards Severus with an amused glint in his eyes. Severus who had a hundred and one questions about how Harry managed to pull this…this prank off, nodded questioningly towards the main entrance. Harry smiled, nodded and with a polite "Professor McGonagall" he walked idly towards the door and the dungeons. He just turned towards the dungeons, when he was stopped by a voice behind him.

"Tom, my boy!" Dumbledore called out for him.

Harry frowned upon the again very informal addressing but schooled his face into a mask of indifference before he turned towards the headmaster. Next to the old man stood two men who wore the usual Auror robes. One he recognised as a very young Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Tom, these are the Aurors Moody and Shacklebolt, they are here to question you about what happened yesterday, my boy," Dumbledore explained him with a grandfatherly smile. "Do you have a moment?"

Harry looked at the other Auror, and now that Dumbledore had introduced them, he could see it himself, and he had a hard time to keep up his masks. There, with both legs and eyes unimpaired, stood Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. That surely was a surprise.

Then there was Dumbledore in one of his ghastly robes. Sure, he made it sound like a question, but he knew very well, that he had no other option than to go with them, as well as he knew that even if Dumbledore wasn't there during the interrogation, he would learn everything anyway, Moody was his friend after all.

"Very well gentlemen, lead the way," Harry finally said. "Severus, we meet in the dorm or, if it takes longer, dinner?"

Severus looked back and forth between Dumbledore and Harry, trying to gauge whether it was a good idea to leave him alone with the old man but in the end, he nodded. If Harry, who seemingly had been on the run from everyone for over a year and a half on his own, couldn't defend himself he didn't know who could.

"I'll see you later," he merely said before leaving towards the Slytherin common room.

Harry, on the other hand, followed Dumbledore and the two Aurors to an empty classroom nearby, where Dumbledore rearranged the tables so that there was only one at the front with two chairs on the one side and one on the other before warding the room so no one would be able to listen in. When Dumbledore was done, the Aurors sat down on the one side while Harry sat on the lone chair. Dumbledore in the meantime walked over to one of the windows and looked out as if he wasn't interested in the interrogation at all but forced to attend. The truth couldn't be any further away from that though.

Once they sat, Moody pulled out a parchment and a dictation quill and set it up.

"Interrogation of Tom Hadrian Eldrid on the 3rd October 1976. Interrogators: Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt," Moody dictated and nodded in satisfaction that the quill worked. "Mr Eldrid would you please tell us what happened yesterday?"

Harry took a deep breath as if to centre himself before he began to speak in a slightly wobbly voice.

"My father had a free day yesterday, and my parents thought that it would be nice to spend the time together," Harry said while looking at his hands. "We spent most of the day in the park and just wanted to go have ice cream at the nearby mall when it happened." Harry swallowed hard and nodded thankfully when Shacklebolt conjured a glass of water. "Suddenly there were those people everywhere…wearing black robes with hoods…and those masks…. Spells were flying everywhere, people were screaming, running around and my father…my father was hit by a green one…he…he…his eyes…."

The horror of what he had to endure was clearly visible and audible for the two Aurors, and they wished that they could spare the young man having to relive it, but it was needed, they needed to know what exactly had happened and Eldrid was the only survivor of the massacre.

"Take a deep breath," Shacklebolt instructed him, not wanting him to have a panic attack. "You're at Hogwarts now, and in safety, no one can reach you here."

Harry did as he was instructed and breathed in and out a few times. Though he doubted, that the "no one can reach you here" was true since his real enemy was currently standing not even ten feet away and looking out through the window.

"Thank you, Sir," he said with a tentative smile before he with a last deep breath continued. "In the chaos, I lost my wand and saw how one of the cloaked black men picked it up and destroyed it. Mum told me to run and hide when she was struck. After…after seeing her fall, I wished to be somewhere safe…somewhere far away. That was when I found myself near the lake here at Hogwarts. I…I don't know how I did it."

When Harry fell silent, Moody looked over the notes the quill had taken.

"Do you remember how many attacked you?" he asked gruffly.

"Three…four? I don't know, everything happened so fast," Harry replied in a low voice.

"And you couldn't identify anyone?" it was this time Shacklebolt who asked.

Harry shook his head. "No Sir, only that they were male…at least they sounded male. I'm sorry, but that's all I know. Do you want my memories? Maybe they'll help."

Now he looked a bit fearful at the Aurors as if he feared that it wasn't enough or that he was in trouble. Shacklebolt, who saw that, sighed.

"Don't worry you didn't do anything wrong and we're glad for your help," he tried to reassure the teen. "Actually, having your memories of the attack will help us a lot. We might see things you'd deem as unimportant."

Harry just wanted to tell the dark-skinned man how grateful he was for the reassurance and give him the memories – Death be thanked for them – when Dumbledore suddenly spoke up.

"You really are an excellent actor, Tom, I have to give you that," the old man said before turning around and looking at Harry without his customary twinkle in his eyes. "Did you really think that this plot of yours would work?"

"Albus," Moody sharply admonished, he knew what this was about since Dumbledore had told them beforehand about his fears. However, Eldrid clearly was a traumatised teenager, who certainly did not need the amount of distrust sent his way that Dumbledore held for him.

"I beg your pardon?" Harry asked in the meantime quite confused.

"You know it perturbed me ever since I heard your name for the first time but then I realised …your name, it's an anagram isn't it?" he asked but only earned himself a blank look from Harry and enraged ones from the two Aurors.

With a sigh, Dumbledore took out his wand – to Harry's curiosity it looked precisely like the Elder Wand – and with a few flicks, the word 'ELDRID' was floating in the air in fiery letters. Another flick of his wand and the letters rearranged themselves to spell 'RIDDLE'.

"The letters of my last name can be used to form the word RIDDLE, so what?" Harry questioned as if he had no idea what Dumbledore was after though he knew very well what all this was about.

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed when no recognition flittered over the boy's face or anything else that told him that he was right. Therefore, he again flicked his wand to form the words "TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE" before rearranging them into "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT".

Harry blinked a few times before he broke out into heavy laughter. He actually laughed so hard that he fell off his chair. Both the Aurors and Dumbledore looked at him in shock and surprise and a bit as if they thought that he lost it. It took him several minutes before he was able to form somewhat coherent sentences again.

"You…you really think…that…," he said between bouts of laughter while trying to get back on the chair. "Oh, that's beyond everything. I mean thank you for thinking so highly of me but…no!"

That, however, alerted Moody. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded to know.

"By what? That you think so highly of me? Think of it, Dumbledore just accused me of being one of the if not _the_ most powerful wizard alive," Harry snorted, not that they'd ever learned that it was in fact true, he _is_ the most powerful wizard alive or dead, he was Death's master after all, but that was beside the point.

Moody and Shacklebolt thought about what just transpired. In the end, Shacklebolt snickered lowly, and Moody grunted in amusement.

"Anyway, don't you think that those are a bit many coincidences to be natural, my boy?" Dumbledore interrupted them.

"What comes next? That I'm his secret son?" Harry retorted snipingly, he was fed up with Dumbledore, the old meddling fool had always stuck his abnormally long and crooked nose where it didn't belong, and this wasn't any different.

However, it seemed that he shouldn't have asked that question because suddenly Dumbledore's eyes widened a bit before he narrowed them in suspicion. Great, now the man thought him to be Voldemort's son, just great.

"Oh, for Salazar's sake…," he exclaimed in exasperation. "I think there is a good way to prove that I'm not a dark wizard."

With a flick of his wrist, he had his wand in hand. He could see how Moody tensed momentarily but ignored it.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he intoned while thinking of his happiest moment, knowing that even in this time people believed that no dark witch or wizard was able to perform this spell.

The eyes of both Aurors widened considerably when a fully-fledged Patronus fled from the teenager's wand before circling the room once and settling on Eldrid's shoulder. They never saw someone so young produce a Patronus. Not many were able to perform the spell and even less managed a fully-fledged one. Actually, even in the Auror force, only a third was able to achieve it fully.

Harry, on the other hand, was shocked.

"What. The. Hell?!" he exclaimed.

He had expected to see his usual stag coming from his wand but not…that! On his shoulder, currently preening its feathers, sat a proud silver-white phoenix that was even larger than Fawkes.

All that Dumbledore could do was staring at the Patronus sitting on the teenager's shoulder. Oh, he knew very well what a phoenix meant, rebirth but also a pure heart and he doubted that a son of Tom Riddle would have such a Patronus – if one at all –, not to mention Riddle himself.

Could he have been so wrong about the boy?

But no, Eldrid was hiding something, and it was no coincident that his last name could also spell Riddle or that their first names were identical. Then another thought occurred to him. Tom Riddle hated his first name with a vengeance, so why did the boy choose it as his first name assuming that he made his name up. Did he want to taunt Riddle? Or was he playing an entirely different game?

Then what was it with the middle name Hadrian? Was that his real name or did he make it up too? There were so many things he didn't know about the boy, and it was bothering him a lot.

What if the boy was dangerous?

What if he endangered the children here at Hogwarts?

Or was it better to keep him here to be able to watch him more closely?

Then there was Slughorn's report about what he learned yesterday during potions and today. He was absolutely smitten with the poor orphaned boy who had no one left, went on and on how well he did in potions.

He would have to wait what the other teachers would say about the teenager but if the two Aurors, one of which was a very good friend of him and who was probably the most paranoid man in the world, were anything to go by it would be Riddle all over again. A boy that was seen by everyone as a progeny, a poor orphaned boy, and not the danger he really was.

Dumbledore there and then decided to watch the boy carefully. Eldrid, or whatever his real name was, would slip up at some point and then he would have his proof that the boy was as bad as Riddle.

He just wanted to say something, when the door suddenly banged open, and an enraged Slughorn stomped in.

"What did I just learn?" he demanded to know apparently quite angry. "That one of _my_ students was questioned by Aurors without _me_ as his Head of his House in attendance?"

"Horace my old friend, I was here the entire time, and I thought it would be enough. I didn't want to burden you with this," Dumbledore replied placatively. "You have enough to do after all without having to sit in a boring questioning."

"That's beside the point, Albus. You know very well that as long as the students are at Hogwarts, their Head of House are their interim guardians. This goes double for muggle-born and orphaned students," Slughorn exclaimed. "It was imperative that you informed me because no underage student can be questioned without at least one guardian in attendance and you are not his guardian."

"He thinks I'm Tom Riddle," Harry offhandedly threw in.

Slughorn's head snapped towards Harry, his eyes widening in shock and surprise before he rounded on Dumbledore again.

"Is what he said true?" he asked in a low, threatening voice.

As much as Dumbledore tried no to react to the accusation levelled upon him by his old friend nonetheless and on the word of a barely known teenager, a slight tick from his right eye revealed him. Slughorn, having been Dumbledore's friend for several decades now and a Slytherin to boot didn't miss that.

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" he roared, it was obvious how much this incensed him because he normally never swore. "This boy lost his parents just yesterday by the hand of those who follow the man, and you accuse him of being HIM? The man who is, even if indirectly, responsible for Tom being an orphan now? What has gotten into you?"

Harry looked at Slughorn in surprise. Sure, he knew that Slughorn cared for his snakes but that he would so vehemently protect a boy he barely knew from Dumbledore was more than surprising him.

"Horace be reasonable. Something is up with the boy. He has the same first name, and his last name is an anagram to Riddle. Do you really think all this is coincident?" Dumbledore questioned him in front of Harry as if he wasn't there, which irritated him.

However, it was Moody who spoke up.

"Albus, you're the one who is unreasonable. We, of course, investigated everyone who fell victim to the attack. His parents, Cyndia and Alfred Eldrid, were registered in the muggle world for over thirty years now, fines for illegal parking, taxes, jobs, everything! Not even Voldemort would be able to fake _that_! Voldemort is good, but I doubt that even he is able to fake the entire lives of two individuals and their son," he growled.

Harry had to suppress his snicker upon seeing Dumbledore's disbelieving face. Oh yes, Harry had no idea how Death had done it, but he did a great job. His parents actually went into hiding shortly after Dumbledore defeated and consequently imprisoned Grindelwald because they feared that Dumbledore would come after them in a bid to learn more about the Deathly Hallows.

However, it didn't take Dumbledore long to regain his composure.

"Very well, I assume that we're done here?" he asked, his benevolent mask back up, upon which Moody huffed but nodded. "Good. Mr Eldrid, please accept my sincerest apology for accusing you. I hope you can understand that one cannot be cautious enough in times like these."

It took a lot from Harry not to scoff upon the apology, sincere his ass. However, he didn't want to antagonise Dumbledore any further today, so he nodded.

"It's okay, I understand that you have to ensure that the other children are not in danger," Harry replied with a small smile, not that Dumbledore ever did that.

He only had to think about everything that happened during his first time at Hogwarts, and he knew that Dumbledore never did anything to make the school safer, quite the contrary actually and if Death was right then this version of Dumbledore was precisely the same as his. So, no he wouldn't trust the man as far as he could throw him without the aid of magic, which wasn't far.

"Come on Tom," Slughorn spoke up. "Let's get out of here. I assume that your friend Severus is waiting for you, so let's not let him wait for more."

Harry's smile broadened, and he quickly followed his Professor out through the door. The last thing he heard before he passed the silencing wards was how Moody began to lecture Dumbledore about inappropriate behaviour.

"Everything alright? I hope the interrogation didn't upset you too much," he asked in concern.

With a look at his Head of the house, Harry shook his head. "I'm alright, Sir," he told him.

"Good, good, I apologise for what Dumbledore accused you of, what he thought I have no idea," the teacher muttered while leading them to the dungeons.

"Sir, if I may ask…who was this Tom Marvolo Riddle, you seemed to recognise the name," Harry wanted to know, wondering whether Slughorn would tell him anything. In his time, he had been guilt-ridden about what he had told Tom when he had been still at school. "I mean besides the obvious of him being the Dark Lord."

Slughorn looked at him for a long moment before he sighed. "He was a student here in the late 40th and early 50th," he began to tell. "Everything he did he was brilliant in, extremely powerful but always friendly. He aced all his exams, managed eleven Outstanding in his OWLs and ten in his NEWTs, became Prefect and later Head Boy.

"After school he applied for the Defence post, knowing that the teacher retired that year. However, Headmaster Dippet rejected him, telling him that he should return a few years later after he travelled for a bit and collected some experience. Riddle followed that advice and returned a few years later though at that time Dippet had already retired himself and Dumbledore, who was Dippet's successor, refused him with a resounding no.

"I don't know what he did afterwards until he returned a few years ago as the self-styled Dark Lord Voldemort." Slughorn sighed again. "I don't know why he thinks that he has to go down that road, he could have gone places, but instead he decided on…this."

Harry who listened to the man in rapt attention hummed lowly.

"Have you ever thought about asking him why he's doing what he's doing?" he finally asked.

That thought made Slughorn stop in his tracks and stare at him in disbelieve.

"What?" he rasped out.

"No offence sir, but what do you know about his motives? And I mean what you _really_ know and not what some third party told you," he questioned challengingly.

Slughorn on the other hand just opened and closed his mouth, left speechless by the teenager in front of him.

"Thought so," Harry continued speaking when the professor stayed silent. "I learned from a very young age on that there are always two sides to a coin. Let me give you an example. Down the street you see a wizard attacking another wizard, what do you think or do?"

"I would stun the attacker if possible, call in the Aurors and aid the attacked one if necessary," Slughorn answered without missing a beat.

"And with that, you'd both either be heavily wounded or worse, dead. Because what you couldn't see or hear from your position was that the attacked wizard also had his wand drawn and was about to cast the killing curse. See? What from one angle looks like a bad thing, is from a different angle the best that could happen. That is why I asked you about what you really know about his motives," Harry explained.

"But he is the one responsible for your parent's death," Slughorn stated in disbelieve.

"Is he really? All I remember is that several Wizards, wearing long black robes and masks, attacked the mall and killed my parents as well as everyone else who was there at that time.

"Only because it looks like a cat and meows like a cat it doesn't mean it _is_ a cat and not Professor McGonagall in her Animagus form," he said with a chuckle. "As long as I don't know with certainty that he had been there or ordered the attack I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

"In my youth, I have been condemned for things I haven't done more than once, and I won't make the same mistake. Don't be mistaken, those who _are_ responsible, I hold accountable, and they will be brought to justice but not some innocent man only because some believe he is evil reincarnated. Before you ask, I also don't hold him accountable for everything someone under his lead does. It would be as if I hold you accountable only because one of the Slytherins decides to skip classes."

"What about all the other attacks?" Slughorn began to understand where the teenager was coming from; he had very good reasoning for why he thinks like does.

"As I said, there are always two sides to a coin, and as long as I don't know _all_ the facts or have absolute proof I won't judge anyone," Harry replied, raising his eyebrow, daring him to say anything against that.

Suddenly they both heard clapping coming from behind them, which resulted in Harry spinning around while drawing his wand. He nearly fired off a spell when he realised that it was the Aurors Moody and Shacklebolt standing there, Moody being the one who was clapping.

"Nice reflexes you have," Moody complemented him, looking amused. "But you should already have known that we were here. Constant vigilance!"

Harry chuckled while he put his wand away. "One of my defence instructors tended to say that."

"And he was right, you might never know when someone tries to sneak up on you."

"True, was there anything you forgot to ask earlier?"

"Actually, with Dumbledore throwing accusations towards you, we forgot to take your memories. I don't know what got into Dumbledore, but you are a fine lad. We couldn't help but overhear your conversation, and I have to say that I wish that we had more wizards thinking like you in the Ministry. You wouldn't want to become an Auror one day, would you? I'd help you if you wish."

Hearing that, Harry laughed. "Sorry no, but thank you for the offer. I'm more inclined in making sure that only those are convicted who are truly guilty and not because it is convenient for someone with too much influence," he said while shaking his head. "I leave engaging dangerous witches and wizards in battle to bring them to justice to those whose heart is really in it. Otherwise, I would only endanger my colleagues."

"As I said, you're a fine lad. Alas, we have to get back, so I'd ask you for the memory," Moody instructed him.

Harry nodded and carefully extracted the memory before placing it in a vial Shacklebolt held out to him. Once the memory was safely in it, he put a stopper in before casting several charms over it not only to prevent any damage but also unauthorised people from viewing it.

"Thank you for your help. Enjoy your weekend," Shacklebolt said while placing the vial in a special box for evidence.

Moody nodded towards Harry and Slughorn before turning around and leaving. Shacklebolt quickly followed him, and both finally left Hogwarts.

"Auror Moody was right, not many think the way you do, and I hope that you never lose your sense of what is right and wrong," Slughorn said to Harry. "Oh Merlin, it is dinnertime already. I suggest you go straight to the Great Hall. Before I forget it, I would ask you to accompany me to our resident Healer Madame Pomfrey after dinner to ensure that you're at full health and to get a medical record from you. I thought Dumbledore already did this but alas he did not."

"Sure Professor, I'll meet you in the entrance hall?" Harry asked, not against the suggestion at all.

Sure, during his first round at Hogwarts he had hated the hospital wing with a vengeance, but that was more because of the many times he had to stay there. Later while he had been on the run, he had learned the hard way what happened if you didn't look after yourself. It had nearly cost him his head because he had pushed off treating his wounded leg properly, thinking that it wasn't as bad as it apparently had been. After that, he had made sure that every wound was handled properly and he in his best possible health under those conditions, not wanting to repeat the experience.

Slughorn nodded and turned around to go to his office but stopped when he found Severus standing in front of him.

"Professor, Harry," he greeted them politely.

"Mr Snape, I won't hold you up any longer, enjoy dinner."

With a smile, Slughorn continued down the corridor while the two teenagers went to the Great Hall to grab something to eat. On his way to his office, Slughorn thought about everything he learned in the last two days.

Tom Hadrian Eldrid was indeed a mystery.

No one knows how he managed to penetrate Hogwarts' wards, which had never happened since the school was founded. It spoke of a very powerful wizard if he was able to get through them.

For the first time, he could see why Dumbledore might think that he was Riddle. Sometimes they were scarily similar – they even looked nearly identical though Eldrid had bright emerald green eyes and Riddle's were a deep dark brown – especially with their power. But then again, they were as different as two individuals could be.

Tom Riddle had always been wary of everything and everyone, questioning people's motives and not genuinely trusting anyone. Nevertheless, he was able to charm nearly everyone within minutes, something that Eldrid had a knack for too. Riddle also always wanted to know the strengths and weaknesses of a person in case that he needed to manipulate them. Another thing was that he soaked up knowledge like a sponge, there was no book that he wouldn't read.

This led his thoughts to a conversation he had with Riddle all those years back when he was still a student here at Hogwarts. Riddle had asked him about a particular ritual out of curiosity as he had said at that time. However, when not even a year later Myrtle Warren had shown up dead, he had feared that Riddle performed it, a fear that never left him ever since. Then he thought about Eldrid's reasoning, and he began to wonder whether he had been wrongly accusing him over all this time. The only things he had to base his accusations on were sheer happenstances.

That was the most apparent difference between the two.

Tom Eldrid questioned the truth – or what at least was perceived as the truth – and seemingly never took anything at face value until he had definite proof. He also didn't seem to use information about people to get them to see his point of view but changed their beliefs by questioning them, arguing and showing why they were wrong by giving examples. He also was more open to others and if Minerva's report was correct had a wicked sense of humour.

Then another thought struck him. Should Tom Riddle and Tom Eldrid ever meet and decide to work together…the wizarding world wouldn't know what hit them. Cold hard logic, but not without strong morals, combined with the ambition and power to see it through…maybe…just maybe Dumbledore was wrong for once. Only time could tell.

One thing Slughorn knew for sure though,change was in the air, and he hoped that it was for the better.

* * *

Harry and Severus were currently sitting in the great hall enjoying their dinner when suddenly Lily sat down next to Severus and stared at Harry who sat opposite of them. She stared at him for a long moment.

"Who are you?" she finally asked, showing just why she ended up in Gryffindor, probably no one else would dare to sit down at the Slytherin table and question one of the students of the house. "You suddenly appear here under _unusual circumstances_ , you know things that no one would be able to find out in two days and most importantly…no one has any idea who you are."

"Who do you think you are?" Mulciber, who was sitting a few seats down the table, snarled. "You come here and demand answers, but we don't want you here you filthy Mud…."

That was as far as he got before he was interrupted by Harry.

"Finish that sentence and believe me you'll wish you stayed in bed this morning. If I hate one thing more than hypocritical idiots, it is this word. So, do yourself a favour and stop using it or you'll rather sooner than later pay the price for it," he said in an ice-cold tone that sent a shiver down the spines of those sitting around him including Severus though for entirely different reasons.

All Lily could do was openly gape at him. Had he really just defended her from another Slytherin in the Great Hall of all places? Someone she barely knew for a day now and who certainly didn't owe her anything.

"What is your problem with Muggleborn anyway?" Harry now demanded to know.

"What my problem is with those…those…. They come into _our_ world, demand that we change _our_ ways, _our_ traditions only because they don't fit into _their_ worldview," Mulciber spat. "They don't even try to learn more about our world."

Lily's head snapped towards the older boy when she heard his reasoning. "That is your problem? That we don't know about your ways, your traditions?" she asked in disbelieve. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find even one ounce of information in that regard? You are spoon-fed this knowledge from birth, but we don't have that privilege.

"We come into a to us wholly new and unknown world at the age of eleven where everyone expects us to know everything right from the start. But there are hardly any books in the library or classes that teach us what you already know, and if we ask you so-called pure-bloods, we're labelled as stupid and backwards. The only ones who gave me _any_ information were James and Sirius, and I probably don't have to tell you how good an information source they are.

"So please tell me, how am I supposed to know and practise your ways? How am I supposed to adhere to your rules if I don't know them? That's why we stick to what we know and besides that have you ever met a Muggleborn that demanded of you to stop practising your holidays, rites or whatever else you have? No, that were all witches and wizards who want to cosy up with us Muggle-borns for whatever reason."

Silence reigned over the surrounding part of the Slytherin table, everyone speechless of the excellent questions Lily asked. The first who broke the silence was surprisingly Barty.

"So, you want to tell me that if someone took it upon himself to teach you properly, you would listen and not dismiss everything immediately?" he asked her with a curious glint in his eyes.

"Of course, I would listen," Lily exclaimed indignantly. "Why do you think that I searched high and low for books on those topics?"

Barty looked at her in contemplation. "Want to meet in the library later? I can tell you more there and answer your questions," he offered.

"Bartemius," Avery said threateningly.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you? First, you complain that the Muggle-borns come into our world, expecting us to change for them and now that Barty here wants to help one to understand our world and maybe even adapt to it you also complain. Make up your bloody mind," Harry snarled.

"They are Mudbloods, they are inferior to us, and we don't need them!" Avery spat.

Again, silence reigned in the immediate area, everyone staring at Avery and Harry, his threat still fresh in their memories.

"Are they?" Harry asked in his sweetest tone, making a few cringe. "Then why do I have the feeling that dear Lily here would wipe the floor with you in a duel?"

Avery snorted. "As if this pathetically weak witch would be able to beat me."

"Challenge accepted," Lily said with a determinate grin, if this could earn her the respect needed then she would do it, and Avery will rue the day he met her.

* * *

A/N: 'til next chapter!


	6. Lily's Cleaning Solution

A/N: Hey! Another chapter, yay for you. I actually wanted to include the first part of the meeting between Harry and the Dark Lord in this chapter but then stuff happened, more stuff happened and well….

* * *

Chapter 6: Lily's Cleaning Solution

 _Avery snorted. "As if this pathetically weak witch would be able to beat me."_

" _Challenge accepted," Lily said with a determinate grin, if this could earn her the respect needed then she would do it, and Avery will rue the day he met her._

"What is going on here?" suddenly Slughorn's voice echoed over the Slytherin table.

"Dear Avery here thinks that I'm a _pathetically weak witch_ who wouldn't be able to beat him in a duel. So to prove that he's wrong I hereby officially challenge him to a duel," she said confidently and with a smirk.

"A duel? Are you sure Ms Evans?" Slughorn asked her sceptically, he knew how resourceful Avery was, and he didn't want to see a witch as bright as Lily Evans hurt.

"I am sure, but I don't know whether Mr Avery here dares to accept," Lily retorted with a smirk.

"You can bet that I'll accept. I'll show you who is superior and you can go back crying to your mummy about how unfair the world is," Avery taunted.

Lily snorted. "So sure of yourself? I'd say we'll see after dinner if you can follow through or whether you're just hot air."

Harry chuckled lowly, at least those stories seem to be true, his mother indeed was a fiery woman that you shouldn't cross.

Slughorn on the other hand sighed. "It seems that I'll have to inform Filius that you're in need of the duelling arena. Mr Eldrid, I fear that we'll have to reschedule your visit to the infirmary to tomorrow morning," he addressed Harry.

"Are you hurt?" Lily asked, instantly worriedly.

"No, luckily not," Harry waved her worries away. "Professor Slughorn just wants to make sure that I'm alright and see whether there is something I have to be aware of as there are no official medical records from me."

"Oh," Lily perked up, her worry bleeding away. "Of course. Will you watch the duel then? You too Sev?"

Severus nodded curtly with a small smile. Actually, he couldn't wait to see her in action. Up to now he only saw her in class. He knew that Lily was brilliant when it came to charms but he never saw her in a duel, and he wanted to know what she was capable of.

"As if I'd miss the opportunity of watching you putting Avery into place," Harry laughed.

They chattered for a bit more, ignoring the other Slytherins' annoyance while Slughorn went to inform Flitwick of the impending duel. Normally students only duelled during the Duelling Club, but students from fifth-year upwards were also allowed to challenge each other to duels. This was mostly done to see who is stronger or like in this case to settle a dispute.

For that purpose, the school even had a duelling arena that had enough space for the entire school to watch. They needed it because twice a year the school had a duelling championship for students of the fourth year and up. In this, they could determine the best dueller of the years or for those who seek a challenge, the best dueller of the school that students of any year could enter

They were forbidden from using spells that would result in lasting damage or see them in Azkaban but other than that they could use whatever spell they wanted.

It was ten minutes after dinner that Lily, Severus, Harry and surprisingly also Barty walked together towards the duelling arena. With every step closer to the arena, Lily grew more and more worried.

"What if this was a bad idea? What if he defeats me?" she muttered lowly. "He surely must know so many spells for duelling."

She slowly worked herself up over it. The thing was that up to now she never took an interest in duelling at all and only knew the spells they learned in the DADA class plus a few she came across while doing homework. However, she was in no way as good as someone like Avery who probably learned magic since he could walk.

Harry, who heard that, stopped her and turned her towards him.

"Lily, listen to me. In a duel it doesn't matter what spells you know, it is how you use them that matters. Severus mentioned that Charms is your strongest subject?" he asked her upon which she nodded. "Then use that. Use what you can do best."

"But how are spells like cleaning charms supposed to help me?" Lily asked him incredulously.

"Think outside the box," Harry retorted. "An animation charm on his clothes and he is distracted. Tarantallegra, and he'll have problems aiming his spells properly. Conjure a bunch of paper cranes to swarm him...you get the idea. Be creative in your spellcasting, and you'll wipe the floor with him."

Lily seemed to think about what Harry just told her when she suddenly sported a grin that even put the Marauders to shame, and it made Harry wonder whether she was the one in Gryffindor people should fear instead of those four.

"I think I know what you mean and I already have an idea of what I can do," she replied while she continued towards their destination with determination.

"Why do I have a feeling that I should pity Avery?" Harry muttered towards Severus and Barty low enough that only they could hear him.

"Avery brought this on himself," Barty replied equally low. "He'll soon learn not to underestimate her."

Harry though looked at Barty when he heard the fondness with which Barty had spoken about Lily. Did he have a crush on her? That indeed was interesting and something he would have to observe.

It didn't take them long to reach the duelling arena, where Flitwick and Slughorn were already waiting. To the side stood Avery surrounded by the Carrows as well as Mulciber and Rabastan Lestrange. They all looked with disdain at Lily while speaking lowly.

"Very well, now that both parties are in attendance we can proceed with the duel," Flitwick exclaimed once he spotted them. "You both know the rules, no permanent harming and nothing illegal. Other than that you can use whatever you want. I'll be your referee. On your positions."

Lily and Avery walked to the duelling platform and stood to face each other. Lily looked towards Harry and Severus and nodded towards them with a smile.

"I bet you ten Galleons that Lily will win," Harry muttered loud enough that everyone in their vicinity could hear him.

That, by now, were quite a lot of people considering that nearly all the Slytherins and all the Gryffindors were there too as well as quite a few of the other houses. The Slytherins wanted to watch Avery putting that dirty Mudblood in her place while the Gryffindors wished to see her defeating the Slytherin.

Harry's muttered words instantly had a massive impact on the entire room. Suddenly everyone wanted to bet on the outcome of the duel and, in the end, Flitwick was roped in as the one who took the bets. To Harry, it was evident that this was a common occurrence during duels and he had a feeling that it wasn't any different with Quidditch matches.

That had him again wondering just how much would change during the coming years because in his time there was no betting anymore, at least not officially. Sure, the twins were the go-to party when you wanted to bet in Gryffindor house, but that was in no way the scale it was here.

Watching how nearly every student placed a bet on the outcome of the duel, he together with Severus – who didn't bet – and Barty – who put a bet on Lily – towards the stands and sat down with a good view on the platform.

It took another fifteen minutes until all bets were placed and everyone found a place to sit.

"Before the duel begins, what are your claims?" Flitwick called out to the duelling parties.

"When I win, she'll have to stay away from any and all Slytherins," Avery claimed wit a smirk knowing that she was friends with Severus.

Lily though huffed. "When I win, he'll have to leave me alone and never again call someone a _Mudblood_ ," she retorted.

With that they both briefly glowed golden, magic accepting their claims and backing them up. Both held their wands up in front of them and bowed before they turned around and walked into position.

"On my command! Three, two, one...GO!" Flitwick called out.

In an instant, Avery shot off several spells that Lily sidestepped with ease and blocked those she couldn't with a Protego. Afterwards, Lily shot an Aguamenti at Avery in return.

Avery laughed while he conjured a shield to block the oncoming jet of water.

"Is that all you can do?" he taunted her. "What do you want to achieve? That I drown?"

Lily, on the other hand, grind mischievously and shot another spell at Avery's feet.

"You can't even aim properly," Avery called out with another laugh while taking a more offensive stance.

That was when he suddenly began to flail with his arms, slipped and landed heavily on his ass with a surprised shout.

What he hadn't anticipated was that Lily's second spell had been a freezing charm she cast on the water that pooled around Avery thanks to the Aguamentig spell, freezing it over in mere seconds.

With a well-placed low-powered blasting spell, she sent Avery careening over the duelling platform and over the edge at the end where he fell to the floor with an indignant yelp.

"Lily Evans wins this duel by sending her opponent off the platform," Flitwick shouted amusedly.

Within moments the entire room was a pandemonium. Gryffindors were celebrating Lily's victory, while the Slytherins claimed that she must have cheated.

During all this, Lily could only stare at Avery, who was currently dusting off his robe and glaring at her. She couldn't believe that she genuinely defeated him and that her straightforward strategy had worked. It wasn't long after that a grin spread over her face, and she looked to where Severus, Harry and Barty were sitting, sporting matching grins.

Slowly she walked over to them, thanking the congratulating Gryffindors on her way.

"I cannot believe that this worked!" she exclaimed once she was in hearing range.

Harry could only laugh. "You were brilliant! Even if I didn't think that you'd take my line about wiping the floor with him that literal. The thing is that most wizards only think in established structures. In a duel and battle, you use offensive spells while you shield yourself. None of them would use transfiguration as a distraction or as I did once, banish their clothes to distract them."

"Because it is dishonourable to do so. Only cowards use trickery to win a duel," Avery, who turned up behind them, sneered.

"Says who? Nowhere in the duelling rules is it stated that you cannot use things like transfiguration or simple spells to defeat your opponent," Harry retorted.

"No one does so!"

"Actually, Mr Avery, you're wrong. I once encountered a dueller at a championship who only used prank spells to defeat his rivals, and he was very effective with it, nearly got the better of me. So, you see, as long as the rules don't state otherwise, you can use everything to your advantage," Flitwick explained.

"Mr Eldrid, Mr Crouch, your winnings," he added, holding out a pouch to each of the mentioned.

They both took their respective pouch, and Harry opened his, counted off ten Galleons before he held the poach out to Lily.

"Here this is for you," he told her with a smile.

"What? Why? This is your winnings," she asked him confused but took the pouch nonetheless.

She looked into it and saw that it was quite a substantial amount of money since only very few had bet that she would win, even from the Gryffindors.

"I cannot accept this!" she said in shock.

"Why? You won, and this is your trophy money," Harry replied with a shrug. "I took out the amount that I bet so it isn't as if I lost any money."

"I suggest you take is, if I learned something today it is that he is very stubborn," Severus brought in when he saw that Lily wanted to argue.

"I didn't know that you could be so wise," Harry said with a beaming smile.

"Others would call it Slytherin self-preservation," Severus deadpanned.

Harry shrugged. "Whatever."

Lily looked torn between refusing to take the money and hugging Harry. In the end, she decided on the second option, heeding Severus' advice, and fell around Harry's neck, hugging him close.

"Thank you!" she muttered in his ear before she let go again.

"No problem," he replied.

"So, now that you showed that idiot that you're not to be underestimated do you still want to learn more about our society?" Barty spoke up.

"Of course!" Lily told him. "Library?"

"Library!" Barty happily said, and with a goodbye to the others, he turned around and led Lily to the library.

"This is one way to sidestep her questioning about who you are," Severus muttered with a low chuckle.

"Do I have to know what you're talking about?" Harry answered with a smile. "However, is it just me or has Barty a crush on Lily?"

"Since the fourth year, when he witnessed how Lily hexed Potter three ways to Sunday because he pissed her off. Gave him a healthy dose of respect for her and from this day onwards he took a liking to her but never dared to approach her considering that she's a Muggle-born and Gryffindor to boot. Today changed that though."

"You!" Aver suddenly snarled. "This is your fault. You M...Muggle-born stride in here as if you're someone special, leaving chaos behind, questioning our views and think that we'll adapt to you!"

It seemed that he wanted to say Mudblood but thanks to the duel and Lily's claim he was unable to say it to anyone. Harry found that hilarious as it seemed that it was Avery's default expression for the Muggle-born.

"I already told you that my parents were both magical," Harry replied with a sigh. "Besides that, you have no idea who I am, so do you really think it a good idea to anger me?"

Many of the surrounding Slytherins looked at each other in confusion but also a bit worry. It was true that they had no idea just who that new boy was and they had consequently no idea how powerful he was, magic wise as well as politically.

"Then who the bloody hell are you?" Avery snapped.

"Mr Avery, ten points from Slytherin for language," Slughorn, who walked up to them said. "I'm appalled. You lost, take that as the means to get better not to lash out at others. Tom, I hope you're alright?"

"Don't worry, it takes more than a sore loser to faze me," Harry said with a chuckle. "Anyway, I think I'll retreat to the common room. Good evening Professors."

With that Severus and Harry together left the Duelling Arena and went down to the Slytherin Common Room. They were followed by nearly the entire house as it was apparent that they finally wanted the promised information.

So it came to no surprise to Harry that he was cornered the second the entrance closed behind the last student.

"So who are you?" Avery questioned again. "And trust me, should I don't like your answer, I'll make your life hell."

Harry looked at him flatly before he wandlessly called an armchair over and sat down. Everyone was staring at him for this offhanded display of powerful magic.

"You want to know who I truly am?" he asked them all upon he received glares that ranged from disbelieving over the question, to disdain and open curiosity. "Very well but first a warning. Should you talk with anyone outside of the Slytherin house about what I'm about to tell you...believe me you won't like the consequences."

Most of the Slytherins hid the fear that was induced by these words very well, but some looked around, wondering whether it was worth it knowing the truth. Though according to Eldrid no harm would befall them as long as they keep their quiet.

"As of today, I am Lord Tom Hadrian Peverell, Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Peverell. However, for reasons of my security I go by the name of Eldrid until I'm off age," he explained to the shock of most of the attendant Slytherin.

"That is impossible," someone he didn't recognise exclaimed. "The House of Peverell died out decades ago."

"You're wrong, there are actually quite a few alive who are related to the Peverells though you have to meet certain conditions to be able to claim the name not to mention the lordship."

"And who would that be?" one asked.

"What conditions are this?" another threw in.

"Well for who, that is easily answered. I'm related to Ignotus Peverell as are the Potters though they are from a different branch. Then there is also someone alive who is related to Cadmus Peverell," Harry said with a smirk.

"Who?"

"The Dark Lord Voldemort."

A heavy silence fell over the room as everyone processed what they just learned. However, the silence didn't last long before it gave way to disbelieve and even anger that Harry dared to claim that he was related to the Dark Lord.

"Liar!"

"In no way are you related to the Dark Lord."

"Preposterous!"

"Outrageous!"

This were some of the nicer things that reached Harry's ear. The only one who wasn't in an uproar but leaning against the wall and watching everything meticulously was Severus. He had to admit that Harry looked like he was sitting in a throne in front of his subordinates though he would never say that aloud.

Other than Severus also a few others were silently sitting in the back and closely watching him. Harry assumed that they either weren't followers of Voldemort or decided to stay back and see where this would lead.

"Are you quite done?" Harry asked loud enough to be heard. "And here I thought you were Slytherins and not those boisterous Gryffindors."

That let most of them bristle in indignation that they were compared to Gryffindors.

"You claim to be related to the Dark Lord but do you have any proof of that?" Regulus Black, who was one of those who stayed in the background, asked.

"I have proof, but unfortunately I cannot show it to you," Harry answered while thinking about it.

"Why?"

"Because it contains information, that is not mine to reveal," he retorted in an exasperated tone. "But if you want to know anyway, you can always go to the Dark Lord and ask him."

"So, you say we should just believe you or what?"

"I don't care whether you believe me or not. You wanted to know who I truly am that I'm hiding from Dumbledore. I'm a Peverell and Dumbledore always had an unhealthy fascination for that family, and when he pestered us too much, we left the wizarding world and went into hiding. Anyway, I'm exhausted so excuse me, but I'll retire," he told them while standing up and walking towards the dorms.

However, he didn't get far. He just turned his back at the masses and only reached the corridor that led to the dorms, when a spell flew at his back.

Merely seconds later gasps were heard throughout the common room. The one attacking Harry was dangling in the air, apparently held in place by an invisible force around his neck that also cut off his windpipe, struggling to get out of the hold. Harry in the meantime held his left hand up in a position as he wanted to strangle someone his eyes glazed over shortly before they refocused.

"How stupid and cowardly can you be? You know absolutely nothing about me except my name, not how strong I am and certainly not what I'm capable of. Despite that, you thought it a good idea to attack me while my back is turned and I'm unarmed? Well, tough luck!"

Harry stalked towards him while tightening the hold around his neck. The other boy's face was beet red by now, and he was bordering on unconsciousness due to the lack of air. With a last glare, Harry let go, and the boy slumped to the floor where he landed in a heap while coughing heavily and trying to get some air in his lungs.

"You should be glad that I'm not into torturing people but trust me that if you should attack me again while my back is turned, you'll rue the day you met me for the first time, am I clear?" Harry asked in an ice-cold tone upon which the boy just nodded weakly. "Good. I hope that I don't have to tell you what happens if anyone talks about this outside this common room."

The glare that he threw everyone told of extreme pain should anyone dared to go against him in this. Though then an idea occurred to him.

"No wait, as long as you can make sure that the information stays within certain _circles_ , you can tell your parents. But should I learn that someone is the reason that the information got out...well, just be careful."

With a last glare, Harry turned around and quickly walked towards the dorm.

Severus, who was still leaning at the wall, chuckled lowly. It seemed that Harry was a sleeping dragon and that if you poked him once too much, he would lash out and he did it in such a marvellous way. Harry truly made threatening an art.

With a last chuckle, he pushed off the wall and followed Harry with determined strides. When he entered their bedroom, however, he saw Harry standing at his bed, his left hand resting on the bedpost and his head hanging.

Severus walked over to him and sat on the bed next to him so that he was able to see Harry's face. He saw how Harry tensed briefly when he entered his field of view but quickly relaxed again when he saw who it was.

"Something's wrong. Tell me," he ordered.

"The attack...it's just...," Harry sighed deeply before he turned around and sat down next to Severus.

"This wasn't the first time that you were attacked while your back was turned, wasn't it?" he asked carefully.

"No, no, it wasn't," Harry replied in a low voice, looking at his fingers. "It was the reason for why I was on the run."

Severus stayed silent and waited for Harry to continue when he was ready to. However, that didn't stop him from watching him closely. It was apparent that this was a painful memory for him, one he probably never talked about before, not even with his friends.

"After my sixth year at Hogwarts the second war was in full swing, I didn't return for my seventh. Instead those I thought to be my best friends, and I searched for a way to defeat the Dark Lord," Harry finally told. "He had managed to not only take over the Ministry but also Hogwarts in the meantime. Let's say it was dark times.

"Luckily you were able to keep the students who remained at Hogwarts out of harm's way most of the time.

"Anyway, my _friends_ and I searched for a way to defeat him. We found it and defeating him we did, or better I did. Afterwards, I was hailed as a hero, invited to fancy parties and whatnot but I didn't care. I didn't care about anything anymore. You were dead, Fred was dead...so many dead."

Harry took a deep breath before he continued.

"I never finished Hogwarts but was instantly thrust into Auror training. Within a year I was a full Auror who absolved the Academy with the best marks in a century. At the age of 26, I was promoted to the Head of the Auror Force.

"In the meantime, I had a wife...children...and I hated it, I hated every second of it. Not my children of course, never them, but my life itself and I wanted away. Away from the expectations thrust at me, away from the never-changing system, away from the monotony of my life.

"With 33 I finally took the step and quit my job. At first, it was great. I could finally do what I wanted to do, but I quickly realised that it was only an illusion of freedom created by my friends and my wife.

"About a year later I confronted them, told them that I would leave entirely and that they should leave me alone. I just wanted to walk away when my own wife sent an Avada Kedavra at my back. It was only at hairbreadth that I got out of its way and away from there.

Afterwards, I was quickly declared the new Dark Lord and hunted with vigour. Luckily, I still had real friends who helped me. However, they all died because of me."

A lone tear fell from his eye and left a trail down his cheek.

"A year and a half I managed to evade them before they cornered me in an abandoned Muggle factory building. What happened then you already know."

Silence fell between them, and they sat there for Merlin knows how long, just basking in the company of the other.

"When did you meet Death for the first time?" Severus finally asked.

Harry sighed, he didn't want to talk about all this, but he would never lie to Severus or keep something from him, never from him.

"The first time I met him was when Voldemort's killing curse hit me, and I ended up in limbo. He had the gall to appear as Dumbledore! Earned him a hit on his nose. Though I didn't see him long that time as he soon sent me back.

"However, when I really met him was half a year before my death and shortly after Neville and George died. Shortly before them, Luna had been killed after...after they..."

Harry covered his face with his hands, and loud sobs escaped him.

Severus shuffled closer and pulled him against him. Harry didn't even resist and let himself be drawn into the sideways hug, his tears now flowing freely.

"George and Neville went to avenge her. I never saw them so furious before. They took seven Aurors with them and harmed even more before they were killed," he continued after a few minutes. "It was a week or two later that Death showed up. I was at the end, didn't want to live anymore and became more and more reckless.

"At first I thought that Death finally came to take me too, but no it still wasn't my time according to him. Death told me that I had to pull through and that it wouldn't be long anymore before everything would turn for the better. You have no idea just how much I hexed him for that, but he simply endured it."

Harry chuckled lowly.

"But he stayed. The night, the next day and the days afterwards, edging me on to stay focused and telling me that life would be better soon. He even warned me when those traitors were close so that I could get away.

"At first, I thought about letting them get me, but somehow I still didn't want to die, so I followed Death's advice. He managed to pull me out of my depression, and that was when he became my friend," he said with a soft smile.

"He had to go back to his work soon, but whenever he could manage, he came to me and kept me company. He never lied to me, never led me astray, never judged me. Now he brought me here…I'll be forever in his debt."

"I have a feeling that there is more behind bringing you here other than making your happy. I mean from what I saw today, he went to great length with bringing all your friends here, and I somehow doubt that he did all that from the good of his heart," Severus mused when it became apparent that Harry was finished.

"Oh, he has ulterior motives, that is for sure, but what those are I have no idea. Maybe it is to stop Dumbledore and everything that happened because of him, perhaps it is to vanquish Tom again, or prevent the end of the world. I have no idea, so, for now, I go with what my instincts say, and that is that letting Dumbledore win is a bad idea, so I'll see what happens when Tom wins. Perhaps that is the better solution, perhaps not. I trust Death to tell me when I shouldn't do something and until then…."

By now Harry leaned heavily against Severus, and he could see how utterly exhausted the other boy was. So Severus stood up, pulling Harry with him and walked around to the side of the bed. With a flick of his hand, which made Harry chuckle lowly, the cover slid down, and Harry's robes were changes into a pyjama. He guided Harry to lay down before he changed his own robes and slipped into bed behind him. There was no way that he would leave Harry's side after all he just heard.

"I knew you were powerful, but it is nice being proven right," Harry muttered drowsily, already half asleep he curled into Severus' embrace. "Just never leave me, okay?"

Severus pulled him even closer. "Never," he promised.

"Never again," he added in a mutter, but the words wore lost to both of them as they both entered Morpheus' realm.

* * *

"Good morning, my Lord," Enyalius Carrow greeted the Dark Lord while kneeling before him. "I have news from Hogwarts."

Marvolo sighed inaudibly. "Take a seat," he commanded, his irritation barely audible but it was there. "Something to drink?"

Enyalius chuckled inwardly, not missing his Lord's irritation. He knew that him kneeling irritated the hell out of Marvolo but he, as well as the rest of the inner circle, wouldn't stop. They all had chosen Marvolo as their liege lord in the hope of a brighter future, and it would speak of horrible etiquette when they didn't kneel or bow before him.

However, now that he was ordered to take a seat, he got up and sat down in a chair across from Mavolo.

"Tea please," he answered the question. "A letter from my son Amycus reached me this morning, it contained interesting information pertaining Mr Eldrid."

They had agreed to continue calling the boy by that name until they knew his real one.

Marvolo motioned him to go on, and after taking a sip from his tea, Enyalius did.

"Yesterday evening young Mr Eldrid finally answered a few questions to his person. According to his claim, he is a Peverell, not just any Peverell but the Lord of the house too, though he wants to keep that secret for the time being. Moreover, he claimed to be related to you though as per his claim, he couldn't give any proof because that would reveal information that wasn't his to reveal," Enyalius reported.

The Dark Lord tapped his mouth in thought. "This is indeed interesting, and he is correct that he is related to me given that he truly is a Peverell. Though calling it being related to me is questionable as he would have to be my cousin Salazar knows to what degree and how many times removed."

"But why couldn't he prove his claim?" Enyalius wondered.

"Because he would have to reveal my actual name to do so. It is quite interesting, he showed up two days ago, no one ever heard of him and he blatantly flaunts my name for everyone to see who knows who I really am, apparently trying to gain my attention. But then he has an entire history, parents, a life to show to that name. I wonder how he did it because I doubt that his parents had all this in mind when going into hiding or that they are really his parents in the first place," Marvolo mused.

"Could he have set it up?"

"Highly doubtable. No one can forge the lives of three people so thoroughly. I had some of the lower ranks have a look into him, and there is everything, papers, Muggle school records, his mother was even a member of a knitting club. Now it turns out that he is a Peverell and it makes sense that they went into hiding," he explained.

"My Lord?" Enyalius asked confused.

"Dumbledore always had an unhealthy obsession with anything Peverell. Ever since he learned that I'm a Peverell, he kept an even closer watch on me than he already did. The Potters are also related to the Peverells, and you know how close he keeps them, he even looks the other way with everything their latest spouse does as not to anger them. If he were too insistent with Hadrian's parents it would be no wonder that they went into hiding," Marvolo brought out vexed.

"I knew that he was interested in the family but that he was that obsessed I didn't know," he conceded. "So you say that the boy's life is set up, but at the same time it cannot be forged?"

"That is the thing, isn't it? The boy's entire history contradicts itself if you know where to look. However, I'm quite certain that he must have set it up hence why I wonder how he did it."

"How can you be so sure?" Enyalius questioned.

"Because he isn't from this time," Marvolo simply stated.

"Time travel? So, he's from the past?"

"More likely the future," Marvolo said with a shake of the head. "Remember what he told you yesterday. He said that he had been an Auror before he was declared a Dark Lord. Let's assume that he didn't lie about it and considering that he would have no reason to do so we can take it as given.

"Think about it, the only other Dark Lord that lived since I was born was Grindelwald and do you genuinely believe that he would be currently at Hogwarts were it indeed Grindelwald? No, Dumbledore would attack him the second he saw him, not that he even looks like Grindelwald. Sure, it could be a disguise, but for this to work, he would have to have known about the attack beforehand, and that he would end up in Hogwarts should he already have been in this time. Or it was planned time travel but then how did set up the lives of his _parents_? No, this would rely too much on coincidence to be a feasible plan.

"However, besides that man, there was no other openly declared Dark Lord during my time, so that is ruled out because he wouldn't know anything about me. Then there is also the fact that he seems to know everyone around him while no one knows him. How did he get all the information unnoticed?"

"But what if he lived here for quite some time now and learned it during that time?" Enyalius threw in.

"Possible but improbable. He would have lived in the Muggle world for most of the time and considering that he's apparently only sixteen he would have a tough time to dig up information without anyone noticing. Especially not all the information he has. Besides, there is something else," Marvolo said while sorting through one of the drawers.

"This is my family tree, going from Salazar Slytherin downwards, though the only branches that go into detail are those of the Peverells. I had the goblins craft this after Dumbledore grew overly interested in me because of it and it is self-updating. The last time I looked at it, there was only the branch going down from Cadmus whom I'm related to and the Potter family who are related to Ignatius. But there was no Tom Hadrian Eldrid in any of the branches."

Marvolo held the scroll out expectantly.

"What do you want to bet that there is now an entirely new branch, possibly coming from the Potter family and ending with Tom Hadrian Eldrid?"

Enyalius carefully took the scroll and unrolled it. Looking over the family tree, he sucked in a sharp breath when his eyes fell on the Potter family. He knew the entire family, having to as the Lord of an Ancient and Noble house, so it came as quite a shock that indeed there was a whole branch no one knew of until now.

"You're right, but...how?" he asked, his shock and disbelieve evidently.

"I have no idea but imagine the possibilities should he really be from the future, the knowledge."

"Only if he'll share. Then there is the fact that should he share, that things evidently will change resulting in his information being incorrect," Enyalius cautioned him. "Then there is another thing. He is _sixteen_ , how can he have been a Dark Lord not to mention an Auror?"

"About that, I can only speculate, but I assume that his little travel in time also de-aged him. I have to admit that the boy is an absolute conundrum and it will be interesting to finally meet him in person."

"So you'll..." Enyalius began but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Marvolo commanded, and the door opened to reveal Lucius Malfoy.

The man entered and fell on one knee in front of him, his head bowed in respect. Though Marvolo didn't command him to stand up or take a seat as Lucius wasn't far enough in the ranks as to receive such hospitality. His father Abraxas, however, was an entirely different matter.

"My Lord, I have news on the unknown boy," the blond man reported. "According to an informant in the Auror force, they conducted a questioning of Tom Eldrid yesterday. It was the Aurors Moody and Shacklebolt who questioned him. From what my contact told me, they were singing high praises of the boy and his view of right and wrong. Another thing is that Dumbledore apparently is highly suspicious of the boy and seems to think him connected to you in any way, going so far as to think him your son."

"That bumbling old fool always put his crooked nose it places it didn't belong," Marvolo growled.

"My Lord, I would suggest that you at least inform the upper ranks of the boy, least someone with the necessary influence takes this the wrong way," Enyalius spoke up.

"You're right, it wouldn't do if someone hurt him," Marvolo replied. "Mr Malfoy you can go."

Lucius stood up from his kneeling position and with a bow and a "My Lord", he left the study.

Marvolo in the meantime tapped a crystal skull that stood on his desk, calling his upper ranks with it. Afterwards, he stood up and followed by his friend, walked out of the study and down the corridor towards the dining room where he would hold the meeting. He naturally sat at the head of the table with Enyalius to his left. Soon the first of his inner circle and upper ranks arrived, shortly knelt before him with a respectful "My Lord" and took their seat. On Marvolo's right sat Abraxas Malfoy and down the table first came his Inner Circle and then the upper rank. All in all the room housed about forty people once everyone arrived and took their seat. Some of the seats stayed empty, though Marvolo wasn't perturbed since he called the meeting on very short notice after all.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, but information reached me that warranted this meeting," he spoke up after a few moments, and the murmured conversation stopped immediately, everyone's attention snapping to him. "As most of you already know, ever since two days ago, Hogwarts is housing a new student, Tom Hadrian Eldrid. He apparated to Hogwarts while he was under attack of a few low ranks on a Muggle mall. New revelations brought to light that he not only is a Peverell but the Lord of the house."

Here Marvolo needed to pause because disbelieving muttering broke out throughout the room, no one wanted to believe it to be true as there hadn't been a Lord of that house for centuries now. He let it go on for a few minutes before he continued.

"I am aware how surprising all this is but that is not all. Some of you may have already heard the rumours that Dumbledore thinks that Mr Eldrid is, in fact, my son. I can assure you that while he indeed is very distantly related to me, he is not my son.

"However, I have to warn you all, and I ask those of you who have children at Hogwarts to instruct them accordingly and let word spread. Tom Hadrian Eldrid is for the time being under my protection and should anyone harm him, said person will have to answer to me. Did I make myself clear?"

Another round of muttering went through the room while everyone nodded their consent. None of them wanted to anger the Dark Lord, and so they would make it very clear to their children that they would have to treat the boy accordingly.

"Good, has anyone questions?"

"My Lord, do you wish to recruit him?" Arcturus Black, current head of the House of Black and member of the Inner Circle, asked after a few moments.

"The boy expressed a deep-seated hatred for Dumbledore but whether that means that he'll join our cause or not remains to be seen. However, I don't want any possible future cooperation ruined by one of your children. So warn them that he is to be treated with uttermost respect and tell them to spread the word to anyone from our side."

"I fear that I have no control over what my grandson Sirius Orion Black will do, my Lord," Arcturus hesitantly brought up. "It is more likely that he'll antagonise the boy because I tell him not to."

That made Arik Lestrange, Lord of the House of Lestrange, chuckle lowly. "I have it on good authority that Tom Eldrid can defend himself pretty well."

"Ah yes?" Marvolo asked. "How so?"

With that, Arik told the attendant what had happened when Harry had faced off the Marauders after they returned from their shopping trip. Marvolo had to admit that it was a brilliant way to get back at them without any possibility of getting into trouble for it. It was quite the Slytherin way to go, and it intrigued him even more.

Marvolo chuckled lowly. "Don't worry Arcturus, as long as he doesn't harm the boy, I have no problem with it as I'm sure that Eldrid knows about Sirius Black's allegiance."

He fell silent for a few moments thinking everything through.

"Is there anything you want to discuss?" he finally asked.

"What about the lower ranks? They might want to hurt Eldrid if they don't know that he's under your protection for now," Abraxas asked carefully.

"Indeed," Marvolo muttered, stroking his chin in thought. "Spread the word but make sure that it doesn't leave our ranks. It wouldn't do for us to accidentally release his allegiance this early. Anything else that needs my attention?"

Silence and shaking of heads was the answer.

"Good, then you're dismissed. Have a nice day," he told them. "Abraxas, please stay behind."

Instantly murmuring arose, the attendants discussing what they learned and what they thought about the development. Each of them bowed before the Dark Lord before they left the room, leaving Marvolo and Abraxas behind.

"What can I do for you, my Lord?" Abraxas asked once the door closed behind the last one.

"I need your business expertise. A few months ago a new joke shop opened on Diagon Alley, the WWW," Marvolo explained, and Abraxas nodded in confirmation. "What I want you to do is to find out everything that concerns the shop, where they get their products from, how successful they are, simply everything. I want to know how good an idea it would be to invest in them."

"My Lord, if I may ask, why this particular joke shop?"

"It is in some way connected to Eldrid and should my assumption be correct then it would be in our interest to get involved with them given that Eldrid isn't averse to our ways," he made clear. "But don't make any attempts before I had the chance to talk to Eldrid, just research."

"Very well my Lord, I'll get to it as soon as I return home," Abraxas replied with a bow of his head.

"Good, you're dismissed," Marvolo said and watched how Abraxas stood up, bowed before him before he left the room.

He stayed in the room for quite some time, thinking through what he learned about Eldrid so far. Admittedly it wasn't all that much but what he discovered was astonishing, and he dearly hopes that he'd be able to convince him to turn to his side.

With a sigh, he got up and walked back to his office. Unfortunately, leading a side in this country also meant lots of paperwork. Whoever thought that _he_ was evil had never to do paperwork before.

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up tightly wrapped in the arms of another person. At first, he tensed minutely, his brain having to catch up and realise that he was still in Hogwarts and that the person behind him was Severus. However, as soon as he woke up enough to realise that he was not in danger, he relaxed again. That was when the memories of the previous evening came rushing to him.

Harry snuggles closer to Severus, trying to forget what happened on the evening and the memories it brought up.

"Good morning, how did you sleep?" Severus muttered in his ear, naturally already awake.

"Good, better than ever actually," Harry replied with a smile, using the distraction that was Severus to push the memories away.

Yesterday he could watch Severus coming from the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his midsection, and today he woke up in his arms? He could really get used to it, but then he also didn't want to get his hopes up that this was more than an initial interest. That Severus would eventually realise that he wasn't really interested in him and stop any attempts to be close to him.

However, he would enjoy it for as long as it would last. Harry knew that it was bordering on suicidal what he was doing, but he couldn't help it. He was here in the arms of the man that he loved beyond anything.

"I wonder," Severus said, ripping Harry effectively from his musing. "What was that spell you used yesterday on that idiot who attacked you?"

Harry chuckled lowly. "That wasn't an actual spell but simply my magic doing my biding. I have to admit that I stole that move from a movie that...is actually not out yet. I'll have to show you once it is out."

He hummed lowly because that gave him an idea. Harry decided that he would have to talk to Griphook about whether he would be able to invest into the Star Wars movies if not actually buy up the entire thing. If nothing changed too drastically, it would give him quite the income.

However, for now, he had more important things to think about, namely the young man in his back.

"Hmmm, what will the view from my bed include this morning?" he teased Severus.

Severus chuckled lowly.

"You'll have to wait and see," he replied in a soft voice, giving him a quick kiss before he slipped from the bed and walked to the bathroom while pulling his shirt over his head and tossed it on his bed.

Harry watched each of his moves and looked the creamy white back up and down, enjoying every inch he could see. He knew that at some point in the future he would lose this, but for the life of him, he couldn't stop. Yes, it would hurt when the time came, and he wasn't entirely sure that he wouldn't lose himself over it, wouldn't break beyond repair, but in his opinion, it was worth it, it was worth every second that he could stay with Severus.

So he just leaned back and enjoyed the show that Severus gave him, humming happily and if he grinned like an idiot, well...there was no one to see him.

* * *

The next days flew by with the professors praising Harry more often than not for his work. Especially in classes, they shared with the Gryffindors – which was nearly all – this soon ended in a contest between Barty, Lily and Harry, who wanted to see who could get a spell faster, better or more fancily. For that Lily now sat between Harry and Barty with Severus on Harry's other side nearly every lesson.

This, however, quickly drew the envy and anger of James, who glared at them all the time. It seemed that his disdain for Slytherin rose exponentially the more time Lily spent with them. Luckily for everyone involved, he didn't act on his hatred...yet.

Lily and Barty were also often found in the library, where, in a hidden corner, Barty taught her more about pureblood customs and the magical holidays. She soaked up anything Barty taught her like a sponge while they discussed the finer points.

Barty seemed to really open up and enjoyed teaching her very much.

From time to time they were also joined by Harry and Severus, who would do their assignments while listening to the discussions. Though from time to time Harry also asked for clarification on something Barty was telling. Luckily for them – or better yet better for the Slytherins and other certain idiots – they weren't bothered by anyone about it after the display during the duel. It seemed that either Lily had given them a healthy dose of respect towards her or they were still plotting something. Either way, the four friends were left alone, and that was all they cared about.

Another thing was that Harry sometimes found himself dragged to the closest hidden niche by Severus and snogged senseless during breaks or free periods. He always left those sessions with wobbly legs, and Harry had the growing suspicion that Lily and Barty knew precisely what was going on between him and Severus.

However, the closer Saturday and Harry's meeting with the Dark Lord came, the more worried Severus grew.

* * *

A/N: 'til next chapter (this time WITH the meeting)!


	7. The Shortest Distance Between Two Points

A/N: New chapter, yay! Since I don't have anything to say at the moment except enjoy...!

* * *

Chapter 7: The Shortest Distance Between Two Points

 _However, the closer Saturday and Harry's meeting with the Dark Lord came, the more worried Severus grew._

Saturday morning, shortly before ten, Severus was wearing a hole into the floor while Harry got changed for his meeting with the Dark Lord. He chose to wear dark grey trousers with a deep blue button-down shirt. Over it, he wore a black short-sleeved open robe with silver trimming. It showed status while not being overdressed.

While getting dressed, Harry observed amusedly how Severus muttered under his breath what a bad idea this was.

"Are you sure you want to go? What if this is a trap and he attacks you?" he asked again, his dark eyes boring into Harry's emerald green ones.

"Sev, calm down! Not only are we meeting in a very public place but I'm also not a weak idiot," Harry replied and stopped him by laying his arms around Severus' waist. "I know that you're worried and I won't tell you not to be as I know that you'll be anyway but what I ask of you is to trust me. Trust that I know what I'm doing and that no matter what he will do, he won't be able to harm me."

"You better come back without a scratch or trust me Dumbledore will be his least problem," Severus growled.

Harry chuckled. "Is it bad of me to think that you threatening the Dark Lord is cute?" he asked before leaning up and kissing Severus. "I'll come back without a scratch, promise. But I'll have to go now, I wanted to buy a trunk before the meeting, and I have something else to do before leaving Hogwarts."

Severus kissed him again before Harry slipped from his grasp. He watched how Harry walked out through the door with a smile. With a sigh, he turned around and walked over to his brewing station. What better way to distract himself than with brewing?

* * *

Harry quickly made his way through Hogwarts, very well aware that Dumbledore was trailing after him. It was annoying as hell that the headmaster had nothing better to do than to follow a student through Hogwarts, but there was nothing he could do about it. The old coot should mind his own business.

However, Harry knew every nook and cranny of the castle. So he stepped behind a tapestry after rounding a corner, watching amusedly as a confused Dumbledore walked past him, apparently not knowing about this passage. Harry knew that it would make the old man even more suspicious about him that he knew the castle this well, but it was either this or not being able to do what he needed to do. So, let Dumbledore suspect him, he had no proof anyway.

Once he was sure that Dumbledore had left, he came out of his hiding spot and made his way to the seventh-floor corridor. In front of the painting of Barnabas, he paced three times with a particular room in mind. When the door appeared, he opened it with a smile and entered the room filled with clutter. Expertly he moved around the piles of furniture, belongings of former students and whatever else was lying around until he reached a bust. He knew that what he was searching for was close by and so he began to look for it.

Not even a minute later he spotted the box in which the diadem was stored. Carefully opening the lid he could feel the soul-piece that resided within it. With a smile, he closed the box, shrunk it, placed several charms on it to make it nearly indestructible and undetectable, safe for him and the Dark Lord, before he put it in his robe pocket.

Looking around for a last time – he should probably come back at some point and see what else was hidden in this room as he hadn't had the time before it had been destroyed in his time – he left the room again.

Careful, that Dumbledore didn't trail him again, he slowly made his way to the bathroom that he knew housed the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. What he forgot though in his bid to hurry was, that the bathroom also housed a certain ghost, Moaning Myrtle.

"What are you doing here? This is a girls' bathroom!" the ghost exclaimed while shooting towards Harry.

"Oh sorry," he said surprised as if he hadn't known that fact. "You see, I'm new to Hogwarts, and I was exploring the castle for a bit. All this is so fascinating...and I didn't realise that this was a girls' bathroom. I'm so sorry Ms..."

"Myrtle...my name is Myrtle," the girl giggled at Harry's sheepishness. Harry was quite sure that if she were still alive, she would have blushed.

"Ms Myrtle...," he began but was quickly interrupted by the ghost

"Just Myrtle," she told him with another giggle.

"Well Myrtle," Harry said a bit shyly. "My name is Tom Hadrian Eldrid, it was nice to meet you, but I should go now. Not that someone catches me in a girls' bathroom."

"Don't worry," she waved his worries away. "No one ever comes here, except to torment me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he muttered while looking down and walking over to the sink he knew would open the Chamber as if he wanted to wash his hand. "I know how it is to be mistreated."

That was when he realised that the tap didn't work.

"Huh, that is strange. Why doesn't it work?" he wondered.

Myrtle floated over. "Oh, that tap never worked, even when I was still alive," she told him when she suddenly began to sob. "The only thing I remember about it when...when I died...were two large yellow eyes right next to this tap."

With a wail, she dived right into the next toilet and vanished, flooding half the bathroom with it.

"That was easy," Harry muttered before turning towards the tap again. " _Open_ ," he hissed.

Like the last time, the sink sunk down into the floor and gave way to the large pipe that led down to the Chamber. Knowing more about it than last time though, he asked for stairs before he descended down the tube but not without closing the entrance again.

While walking further and further down the stairs, Harry mused what he should do about the ghost. He would have to stay on her good side to keep her quiet or she will probably rather sooner than later snitch on him. The best would probably be to befriend the lonely ghost. He knew only too well how it was to be alone and he didn't doubt for a second that if he showed her kindness, that she would keep his secrets.

Harry grimaced at that thought, this was far too much like Dumbledore's methods for him to be comfortable with. Though he would never abuse her trust, that much was clear, he just didn't want her to blab about him.

He sighed deeply. Maybe he could actually befriend her without her getting a crush on him. That had been creepy in his time. Harry shuddered at the memory of how she had stalked him. He would have to see how things develop.

A few minutes later, he stood in the large Chamber and was wondering where to best place the Horcrux so that it was safe. Not that anyone other than him or the Dark Lord would be able to get in here in the first place. Though considering what it was, he wanted it to be safe. He wouldn't risk it for anything.

Muttering under his breath he – for the first time – wandered through the Chamber in the hope of finding a good hiding place. However, it seemed that he wasn't all that silent as he suddenly heard a rumbling coming from the central part.

" _Who dares to intrude in these halls?"_ a distinctively female voice hissed.

" _Oops_!" Harry muttered, not having known that the basilisk could get out on her own.

Actually, he had forgotten entirely about the basilisk. Were Severus here he'd probably berate him for being so stupid and careless.

" _Uhm, hi!_ " he greeted the sixty feet tall snake in Parseltongue that just slithered around the bend ahead of him and towards him. _"It would be appreciated wouldn't you kill me. I just came here to keep something safe that belongs to Tom Riddle."_

Harry could only hope that the snake knew whom he was talking about. It was a good thing that after meeting her in his second year, he read up on basilisks. So was it that they had a second pair of eyelids that prevented their deadly gaze from harming anyone.

" _You can speak?!"_ the snake exclaimed surprised, stopping in front of Harry and scenting him with her forked tongue. " _You know Tom?"_

" _Yes, I can speak, and yes, I know Tom. Actually, I'm going to meet him soon..."_

" _You're going to meet him? How is he? When he didn't return after what happened to that poor girl...I feared that the meddling man did something to him,"_ she hissed so quickly that Harry had problems understanding her. _"It was all my fault you know? The girl I mean...I was careless. Salazar told me that I was never to hurt a child in these walls, that I was to protect them but I failed! It was all my fault!"_

" _Calm down,"_ Harry said to the worried snake.

He took a step towards her and gently patted her snout that was just in reaching distance.

" _Tom is alright. The meddling man didn't get to him, but he kept a close watch on him. Tom was worried that he would lead him straight to you. That is why he didn't return to you,"_ he explained to her.

Okay, he didn't really know whether Tom hadn't returned because he was worried that he would expose the basilisk or because he was concerned that Dumbledore would gain some leverage against him. However, he had a feeling that Tom would never want to endanger the basilisk as it had once been Salazar Slytherin's familiar.

The basilisk seemed relieved that Tom wasn't hurt or worse dead.

" _Can I come with you? I want to see Tom, please,"_ she pleaded, and if Harry wasn't entirely mistaken, she also tried to convince him by giving him very effective puppy-dog eyes.

Harry couldn't help himself but laugh. A sixty feet long basilisk staring at him with puppy-dog eyes was just hilarious. He had no idea that a snake was even able to pull that off or any other facial expression as it was.

" _How am I supposed to take you with me without anyone noticing?"_ he asked with a chuckle, ignoring the now pouting snake.

" _Oh, I know how to solve that!"_ she exclaimed excitedly while turning around and quickly slithering towards the main part of the Chamber. _"Salazar invented a spell especially for this occasion when he saw how large I got. It was so that he could still take me with him._

" _How many times has he taken me to the market when he went to buy ingredients for his potions. Sometimes I offered him some of my venom, or he would collect my skin when I shed it to sell it or to experiment with it. I was forbidden from harming anyone of course._

" _Or when he took me with him in the large forest that surrounds the school. I could freely chase my prey there while he collected plants and other things."_

Harry had to hide a smirk. It seems that the basilisk was very talkative though with how long she was alone now it was no wonder that she got excited that she had someone to talk to. He could imagine Tom sitting here with her and listen to stories about Salazar for hours on end while petting her.

This image became even more apparent when they reached the room hidden behind the entrance in the statue. It was like a fully furnished living room. To the left was a large area that was cushioned and obviously meant for the basilisk. On the right stood several high-back chairs around a table just in the right height to work at and the walls were covered in bookshelves filled to the brim with ancient but perfectly preserved books. In the middle was a large fire pit in which a fire merrily burned, keeping the room warm.

The basilisk slithered up to one of the shelves and began to scent the books. When she found the right one, she poked it with her snout.

" _This one, little one,"_ she told Harry. _"The spell should be on the first pages."_

Harry was genuinely astonished how intelligent the snake was.

That thought brought him back to what happened in his second year. Even then, when the basilisk had tried to kill him, and he had to kill her in self-defence, he had thought that it was a waste of a life. However, now that he knew her better...he honestly felt bad for what he had done. He swore to himself that he wouldn't let it happen a second time.

The basilisk observed him.

" _Are you alright, little one?"_ she asked worriedly.

That brought Harry out of his musings. Shaking his head to get the last remains of his memory to leave him, he walked over to the bookshelf.

" _Just memories of the past haunting me,"_ he answered ruefully. _"Which book was it?"_

The massive snake looked him over with a critical gaze but dutifully pointed at the book with her tail. Harry picked it up and flipped it open. It took him a bit to get used to the squiggly lines that rearranged themselves into English words, but soon he was reading it as if never read anything else.

" _To shrink the basilisk...,"_ he read out loud. _"This seems to be it."_

He carefully read the instructions, but it was a reasonably easy spell to perform. After practising the wand movements, he turned to the snake with a questioning look.

" _Stop staring at me and shrink me already, little one,"_ she hissed in irritation. _"I want to see what changed since I was out the last time."_

Harry chuckled over the eagerness of the snake but complied. With a flick of his wrist, he cast the spell and watched in fascination how the sixty feet long basilisk slowly but surely shrunk down to mere sixty inches with a thickness of two inches. Her forest green colour also lightened a bit. With her deep green colour, one could have mistaken her for a green snake if she wasn't thrice their size.

Once she stopped shrinking, she slithered over to Harry and up to his shoulder where she settled comfortably.

" _Comfortable?"_ Harry asked her amusedly.

" _Very. You're warm and soft,"_ she replied with a content hiss.

Harry shook his head. He couldn't believe it, he was about to walk through Diagon Alley with the deadliest snake in existence coiled around his shoulder. He wondered how he got in this situation again but shrugged it off as his brand of luck. Only he would befriend a deadly snake and take her to a meeting with the most dangerous man of this time.

For security reason and not to freak out the other people milling around in the Alley, he cast a strong notice-me-not charm around her.

" _By the way, what is your name? I don't want to call you snake or basilisk all the time."_

" _My name is Amaterasu, little one,"_ she said with a hissy chuckle.

" _It's a beautiful name, but I think I'll call you Tera, quicker to say. I'm Harry,"_ he introduced himself, scratching the scales behind her head lightly, eliciting a pleased hiss from Tera.

" _Keep doing that, and I won't mind too much that you mangled my name, little one."_

That made Harry laugh.

" _Maybe, but we'll have to leave now or I'll be late to my meeting with Tom. I have to do a few things beforehand,"_ he explained to her while taking the box out of his robe pocket, unshrinking it and placing it in an empty spot on the shelve.

" _What is that?"_ Tera asked curiously.

" _This is what belongs to Tom and needs to be kept safe,"_ Harry replied while leaving the Chamber, closing everything behind him.

" _It will be safe here."_

" _That is why I brought it here,"_ he replied while carefully looking around in the bathroom to see whether Myrtle was nearby.

Once he was sure that no one was watching, he climbed out of the hole and dusted off his clothes. After closing the entrance again, he made his way to the closest passage that would lead him beyond the wards of Hogwarts.

" _Careful, the meddling one is coming this way,"_ Tera suddenly hissed in warning.

Harry, knowing that he had no time dealing with Dumbledore right now, delved behind a tapestry depicting some goblin war. Luckily, Dumbledore walked right past it.

" _The old fool is really annoying,"_ Harry hissed in disdain.

" _Tom said the same,"_ Tera nodded in agreement. _"The man kept a very close watch on Tom."_

" _Not only on Tom. I didn't arrive under the best of conditions, and now Dumbledore thinks that I'm either working for Tom or even am his son which is ridiculous,"_ Harry scoffed.

Since he was sure, that Dumbledore was long gone, he continued his track to a passage he knew led to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. As soon as he was past the wards of Hogwarts, he apparated away, landing in a small side alley of Diagon Alley.

A few glamours later, he walked to the trunk shop while listening to Tera how things had been in Tom's youth.

It didn't take him long to not only get a seven-compartment trunk that included a fully furnished potions lab with several wards around it to assure that the fumes were absorbed and fresh air brought in. The trunk was quite expensive, but Harry didn't care.

Another thing he got was a three-compartment bag with bottomless and lightweight charms to carry his school things around in.

Tera was happily giving her opinion to everything as well as little anecdotes of what Salazar or Tom did. Harry had to suppress laughter when she told him that one day, Tom had gotten completely lost in Hogwarts but insisted that he knew where he was and how to get back. In the end, he admitted defeat and asked Tera to lead him back. What Tera never told him was that Hogwarts – who he also learned is a sentient building – had been toying with him.

Just imagining how frustrated and irritated Tom must have been made Harry's day.

After he was done in the trunk shop, he went and bought a few other things he would need but hadn't the time to get last time like parchment and quills.

All in all, he didn't need long for everything and was done with another hour to spare. Bored and knowing that he could defend himself if needed, not to mention the deadly snake around his neck, he decided to venture into Knockturn Alley. His first stop was a quick perusal of Borgin and Burkes, but nothing caught his interest there.

What caught his interest though was a small apothecary a few houses down. It turned out that the apothecary was specialised on extremely seldom ingredients and in good quality too. He already had quite the stack of ingredients when his gaze fell on a jar containing basilisk skin.

He chuckled lowly, knowing that thanks to the snake around his neck, he probably will have enough of that himself. Severus probably will be ecstatic that he can experiment with basilisk skin and venom, well after he was done berating him for his stupidity.

"May I help you?" a young woman, no older than twenty, asked him, ripping him out of his musing.

Harry blinked a few times before he shook his head. "Thank you, I'll take this."

With this, he handed the basket with the chosen ingredients, each in their own glass container, to her. She quickly summed everything up and after giving her the right amount, he stored everything away in his new bag and left the store with a "Goodbye".

Casting a quick tempus, he saw that he still had twenty minutes when he remembered that he should get Tera something to eat. Walking to the Magical Menagerie, he bought her several fat mice under the disguise that they were for his owl.

This didn't take long either, and since he wanted to be early, he made his way to the Leaky Cauldron.

There he chose a table in the back corner with a good view of everything. Tom, the bartender, brought him a butterbeer and left him to observing to coming and going. In the meantime, he fed Tera a few of the mice he bought, which she gleefully devoured. Afterwards, they talked more, Tera eagerly anticipating to meet Tom again.

" _I would ask you though to stay hidden until I tell you that it's okay to come out,"_ Harry told her. _"I don't know how Tom will react when seeing me and I don't want you to get hurt."_

Tera nodded in agreement and curled around his midsection, effectively hiding under his robe.

It was two minutes before one when the door towards the alley opened. Harry, who had been watching a family two tables over, looked towards the door to see who came in when he choked on his butterbeer that he was sipping at that moment. He pointedly ignored Tera's hissed chuckles.

The man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, strolled over and with a smooth movement sat opposite of Harry while casting several spells around them to prevent others from listening in.

"I would have expected a more eloquent greeting than you trying to kill yourself with butterbeer," he said to Harry, who was currently trying to get his breathing back under control.

All that Harry could do though was staring. The man, who was obviously Tom Marvolo Riddle aka the Dark Lord aka Lord Voldemort, looked nothing like what he had expected. In fact, he looked like an older version of the Tom Riddle he knew from the diary. His hair was a bit longer and framed his face in small waves.

The gaze of those brown eyes was sharp and constantly observed and analysed their surroundings. 'Constant Vigilance' came to his mind but he somehow doubted that Moody would find that thought amusing. Though Harry could see that a glamour was cast over them, hiding his real deep red eyes that Harry could see beneath it. He had to admit that they fitted the man far better than the brown ones.

Underlined was this by a long open black robe with green trimmings over an Anthrazit coloured button-down shirt. Wasn't Harry happily and sincerely in love with Severus, he would undoubtedly give Marvolo a chance.

Harry stared at Marvolo for a long time until the man had enough and cleared his throat. Realising, that he not only had stared but also was caught doing it, Harry did the mature thing, he stuck out his tongue.

Marvolo rose an eyebrow, but his amusement was plain as day.

"Just how old are you?" he asked amused.

"35...well I was 35 before I was killed and ended up in this universe in this time," he answered truthfully with a shrug.

"That explains a lot, certainly your maturity," Marvolo explained his eyes sparkling in merriment.

"Hey, I happily inform you that I'm very mature, thank you very much," Harry whined, not that he would ever admit to whining. "And what did you expect? One of the Marauders is my father, another my godfather and the third my honorary uncle."

"So, you are a Potter, interesting. I'd say James' son?!" Marvolo speculated, he could see the slight resemblance to the youngest Potter spouse now that he thought about it.

"Got it in one. Yes, James Potter is my father though I have a distinct feeling that he won't get together with my mother this time around."

"Don't you fear to create a paradox?" Marvolo was intrigued, the possibilities alone.

"Nah, since this is not the same universe I was born in, I'm safe," Harry replied with a shrug and sipped his butterbeer. "At least that is what I was told."

"Interesting, very interesting...," Marvolo muttered. "Is that why you stared at me in the beginning? Because I look different to your version of me? I had assumed that you'd know how I look like," he said with a chuckle.

"I don't know what I expected but certainly not _that_!" Harry muttered, still shocked that Marvolo looked so...normal. "I mean you do look like an older version of the sixteen-year-old self I know and I also know how you looked like as a child. But the version of you I met...how you might look if you continue down the path you're on at the moment..."

Harry shrugged helplessly.

"What do you mean how I _might look_?" Marvolo asked tensely.

"Well...," Harry sighed deeply.

This wasn't how he wanted this conversation to go. He tried to find out just how sane the man was and not thrust information at him that might turn him hostile. However, he also knew that there was no way that Marvolo would let it go and he seemed very sane to him, but he knew that this could be just a mask.

"This will take some time to explain though first I have a question but please, for Merlin's sake, keep in mind that I'm _not_ against you. Actually, I'm currently very much inclined to give you the wizarding world on a silver platter. So, anything I know and tell you is not meant to threaten you but to warn you so that maybe the future doesn't play out the same way again. Because I certainly do not want to live through it a second time," he explained tentatively, wanting to bring his point across.

Marvolo looked at him for a very long time, wondering what the teenager knew and why he might think that the not so young teenager might use his knowledge against him.

"How many Horcruxes did you make so far?" Harry tentatively asked.

In an instant, Marvolo went from relaxed and curious to tense and closed off. How did he know about his Horcruxes? Ah yes, he was from the future, but this was never meant to get out. Did he know where they are hidden? Had he maybe already destroyed one? He would have to check on them.

"Tom, please...," Harry pleaded before he sighed again. "You want to know why I was so shocked over how you look? Those Horcruxes...they are changing you, destroying you. In my time you had six...later even seven. They left you insane, a complete madman who threw the Unforgivables around as if they were candies. Who punished his followers for no reason at all.

"And your looks...oh your looks. I mean I already knew that you were handsome in your youth but when I saw you coming through the door...phew. If I hadn't already someone I love and were happy with him, I would definitely try and hit on you," he explained with a smirk. "Voldemort of my time however...let's just say he was a monster inside and outside.

"I'm willing to help you, ready to stand by you as you crush your enemies _but_ should you choose to go down that road again, should you decide that madness is what you want...I won't hesitate to stop you!

"The future I saw, the future I come from...I will prevent it no matter the price."

Marvolo sat there stunned silent, and that was a feat in itself. A monster inside and outside? Utterly insane? What had become of him? Will become of him? This was indeed not what he envisioned when he decided on Horcruxes as his way to immortality. No, he wanted immortality to have all the time needed to make the changes to the magical world he wanted to do. Beginning with their idiotic believe that inbreeding and keeping their blood pure was a good thing and ending with the utterly corrupt system.

However, how was he supposed to achieve all this if he was insane? Not! That was the simple truth about it.

But then…did he actually believe that the boy…man…whatever, sitting in front of him was telling the truth? What proof did he have? He could be telling him all this to stop him from making more Horcruxes so that he might kill him more easily.

"I see that you don't know whether to believe me or not. The best I think is, that I show you," Harry spoke up when he saw the conflict warring in the other's mind.

He looked him straight in the eyes, but at first, Marvolo didn't react. Only after giving him a soft mental nudge, Marvolo finally caught up and used Legilimency on Harry. Moments later they both found themselves in Harry's mindscape which was an endless field of grass with flowers of different colours scattered all over it.

Marvolo looked around in interest and amusement. "Very interesting mindscape," he said.

Harry shrugged. "It serves its purpose."

"So, what did you want to show me?" he asked, directing his undivided attention to the teen.

"You have to know something beforehand," Harry replied. "In a few years – though I imagine that it will be different this time around – one of your followers will tell you the first part of a prophecy. I will tell you the prophecy fully but not now as we have more important things to do. Just know that the prophecy is either self-fulfilling, faked or complete shit. However, you took it seriously and began to hunt down a certain child that was part of the prophecy."

"I hunted down children?" Marvolo choked out. Just how insane had he been?

Harry nodded. "You did and what I show you now is the direct result of your actions."

With that, he showed him first what he remembered happened on that fateful Halloween night when Voldemort attacked the Potter cottage. He followed that up with each instance when he met the shade of Voldemort up until the resurrection in his fourth year. Until then Marvolo looked positively ill.

Everything he had worked for, all his plans...this raving madman was indeed not how he envisioned his future.

"How...how could I fall so far?" he brought out in a mere whisper.

"I honestly don't know, but I suspect, that in the next years before that Prophecy was reported to you, Dumbledore did something that pushes you over the edge. Or you finally created one Horcrux too much and shattered your mind to the point of insanity," Harry told him honestly while showing him fifth year followed by the sixth.

"How sure are you that this is the result of the Horcruxes?" he asked tentatively.

Marvolo didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think about it but if this...this _monster_ was truly the result of him creating his Horcruxes...well, his first action in the morning would be not only to research how to reverse those he already made but also other ways to achieve immortality.

"Well," Harry began, not entirely sure that he should introduce the concept of him being Master of Death just yet. "I have...an acquaintance who deals with souls on a daily basis, and he told me what creating a Horcrux honestly did to the creator. It not only puts a small piece of your soul in the container but _half_ of it.

"Think about it...creating seven of them...you'd operate with less than 1% of your soul! Not only that, with each piece of your soul that you stow away you also shatter your mind, your sanity and your magic. You might or might not feel it yet but you will if you create more of them."

In the meantime, the battle of Hogwarts and his willing sacrifice played out around them.

"You willing stepped in front of m-...the killing curse?" he asked, not even able to say 'my killing curse' because that madman was definitely _not_ him.

Harry chuckled lowly. "The day you attacked me when I was a baby...your soul was so shattered already that with the rebounding of the killing curse your soul shattered even further. With nowhere to go the severed part went into me. You accidentally made me a Horcrux, and the only way to get rid of it was for you to kill me."

"How did you survive?" Marvolo asked astonished.

"Let's just say that I'm _very_ tough to kill." Harry chuckled again.

They both silently watched the final fight between Harry and Voldemort, how the killing curse rebound _again_ and killed Voldemort for good this time.

"You took him down, good," was all Marvolo said to that.

Harry stared at him in utter disbelieve. He had just shown the man that he had, in fact, killed him and he found it a good thing.

"This _thing_ was an insane monster," he elaborated when he saw Harry's face. "You did good taking it down. I'm _not_ him, and I promise you that I'll do everything in my might that I'll never become him. Thank you for showing this to me, it made me rethink a lot of things."

Harry let out a breath of relief and a tension that he didn't know he had left him. The conviction with which Marvolo has spoken proved just how solemn the man was. This was one thing less to worry about. He had to admit that he had been anxious about Marvolo's reaction to this.

"Then I'll gladly help you in your endeavour of changing the world. Just a little warning. You should rethink the hiding places of your already existing Horcruxes. Both the cave and the Gaunt shack are a too obvious hiding place, and I fear that if Dumbledore wants to find them that he'll realise this more sooner than later. Hogwarts actually is also very obvious though I took the liberty to relocate it to the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore cannot get in there. That reminds me, someone is waiting to meet you," he added with a smirk.

Marvolo nodded slowly. He knew he should be worried that Harry knew so much, not to mention actually was in possession of one of his Horcruxes but somehow, he was glad about it. Weird, he would have to think about it at a later point of time once he processed and analysed everything. It was a lot to think about, and he would have to carefully plan out how to proceed.

"The details of our cooperation we can talk about later once you had the time to think about everything," Harry said with a smile, this had gone far better than he had anticipated.

Marvolo again nodded. "This seems to be for the best."

With that, he retreated from the other's mind.

"Reduced to a mere acquaintance, am I now?" a deep slightly raspy voice asked once they both fully returned to consciousness.

* * *

A/N: 'til next chapter!


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